The number of crimes committed against people in May declined slightly compared to May 2020, while year-to-date, this area has declined roughly 16 per cent over last year, new data shows.
According to the May statistics sheet, the Moose Jaw Police Service responded to 43 incidents of crimes against people in May compared to 44 episodes last May, a decline of 2.2 per cent. Meanwhile, police have responded to 195 incidents year-to-date (YTD) in this area compared to 232 episodes last year, a drop of 15.9 per cent.
There have been more assaults during the past 15 months, which Police Chief Rick Bourassa attributed to the pandemic and people being cooped up inside. More people appear to be engaging in interpersonal violence.
There have been 97 incidents of assault — sexual, common, with a weapon, aggravated, and against police — since January, roughly on par with the 119 episodes of assault last year, the data showed. In particular, there have been 77 incidents of domestic violence so far this year compared to 62 last year.
“Now one of the things about data is they’re snapshots in time, so sometimes they don’t tell us what we think it tells us,” Bourassa said during the recent meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners. “We’ll continue to watch the longer-term trends and try to identify the factors that are contributing to that.”
Meanwhile, crimes against property decreased by 4.1 per cent year-over-year. Bourassa indicated that this is a category the police service will monitor, with the hope that it’s a trend and not an anomaly.
The statistics showed 79 incidents of crimes against property in May, compared to 91 last year. Year-to-date, there have been 462 episodes compared to 482 incidents last year. A closer look at the data for this year versus last year shows:
- Break-ins (businesses, residences, other): 108 / 117
- Motor vehicle theft: 22 / 33
- Theft over $5,000: 6 / 3
- Theft under $5,000: 209 / 216
- Arson: 5 / 4
- Mischief over $5,000: 112 / 109
Police have handed out 858 summary offence tickets for driving violations since January, compared to 535 tickets last year, a jump of 60.4 per cent. Bourassa noted that new officers in the traffic division have “high-level energy” and are proactive in their work.
The data shows that officers have responded to seven incidents involving crystal methamphetamine year-to-date compared to two incidents last year.
Overall, Moose Jaw police have responded to 5,944 calls for service compared to 5,860 calls last year.
Pandemic tickets
Moose Jaw police have responded to 74 incidents that were pandemic-related during the first five months of this year, which is the same number at this point in 2020.
The police service continues to receive complaints in this area and continues to resolve most of them without issuing tickets, Bourassa said. With the weekly freedom convoys, they are usually “sparsely attended” by only four vehicles. Across the province, the number of rallies has also declined and appears to have abated for now.
The next Board of Police Commissioners meeting is Tuesday, July 13.
