The Moose Jaw Police Service may not be seeing any significant trends in crime currently, but the most recent data indicate a continued decline in offences against people and property.
The police service (MJPS) presented the May crime statistics during the Board of Police Commissioners’ June meeting, with the numbers showing a decline for the fifth straight month in crimes against the person and crimes against property.
Specifically, crimes against people declined 14.8 per cent and crimes against property dropped 20.8 per cent.
“We don’t see anything that’s jumping out to us that’s a concern. … It’s a snapshot in time and it’s tough to look at trends over a month,” said Deputy Chef Rick Johns. “But we do monitor this on a regular basis.”
It’s “very encouraging” to see these numbers decline, although the police service isn’t “overly concerned” with monthly data but does focus more on year-to-date and year-to-year numbers, he continued.
“We have sort of realigned with our resources with … community-based projects,” Johns remarked. “I do also believe our enhanced media preventative measures that we’ve pushed out and that are picked up by our media partners is also helpful to make sure people get that level of education on how to protect themselves.”
The police board had a good discussion about stolen vehicles during its meeting, which means it’s time to conduct an education campaign to remind residents to remove their keys and lock their doors, he continued.
Moreover, residents should remove their garage door openers from their vehicles if they are parked outside. This will prevent thieves from gaining access to homes and garages.
While calls about crimes are declining, the MJPS is seeing a continued increase in overall service calls, as officers are responding to more “social disorder” issues and assisting people with non-crime problems, said Johns.
“We continue to monitor those and we continue to address those as they come in. And that continues to be a big part of our job and our role,” he stated, noting the Police and Crisis Team (PACT) unit continues to support residents experiencing mental health or addiction problems.
The MJPS “has a big appetite” to enhance — and expand — the PACT unit, while it’s always discussing ways with the province to do that, Johns added. It’s also a provincial priority to enhance this program, so the police service will work to bring further resources to Moose Jaw as money becomes available.
People crimes
Data for crimes against the person in May 2024 versus May 2023 show:
- Homicide: 0 / 0
- Attempted murder: 2 / 1
- Assaults (sexual, common, with a weapon/cause bodily harm, aggravated, against police): 143 / 184
- Robbery: 6 / 6
- Totals: 213 / 250
Property crimes
Data for crimes against property in May 2024 versus May 2023 show:
- Break-ins (business, residence, other): 107 / 118
- Theft of motor vehicle: 26 / 18; 44.4-per-cent increase
- Theft over $5,000: 7 / 16
- Theft under $5,000: 308 / 444
- Arson: 0 / 0
- Mischief (property damage) over $5,000: 108 / 119
- Total: 726 / 917
Other incidents
Data for other incidents in May 2024 versus May 2023 show:
- Impaired driving: 38 / 41
- Failing to comply with court orders: 374 / 161; 132.3-per-cent increase
- Threats: 7 / 23
- Domestic dispute: 27 / 25
- Provincial liquor infractions: 54 / 45; 20-per-cent increase
- Vehicle accidents over $1,000: 136 / 85; 60-per-cent increase
- Summary offence tickets: 922 / 854
- Automated speed enforcement: 8,170 / 6,086; 34.2-per-cent increase
- Drugs (cocaine, cannabis, meth, other): 12 / 17
Also, the police service received 8,041 calls for service in May compared to 7,913 during the same period in 2023, which is an increase of 1.6 per cent.
