The continued increase in assaults against police has the chairwoman of the Board of Police Commissioners hoping the incidents don’t deter people from considering policing as a career.
There were 21 attacks on officers as of Nov. 30, 2023, compared to 11 incidents in 2022 and 2021, a year-over-year increase of 90.9 per cent, according to data that the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) presented during the board’s December meeting.
The attacks are part of the larger category of crimes against the person, which saw a year-over-year increase of 22.6 per cent.
Data from 2023, 2022 and 2021 to Nov. 30 show:
- Homicide: 0 / 1 / 0
- Attempted murder: 4 / 2 / 2; a 100-per-cent increase
- Assaults (sexual, common, with weapon/cause bodily harm, aggravated, against police): 373 / 301 / 293; a 23.9-per-cent increase
- Robbery: 9 / 8 / 5
- Total: 520 / 424 / 435; an increase of 22.6 per cent
Of note, assaults with a weapon/cause bodily harm were up 41.7 per cent year over year, with 68 incidents versus 48 in 2022 and 41 in 2021.
The agency continues to track areas that show “anomalies or spikes,” so basically, assaults against police and total crimes against people, Deputy Chief Rick Johns said. The agency is also looking internally at how it can better handle attacks on its members, while it has hired an analyst to provide information about what is driving these occurrences.
It’s not just Moose Jaw that is facing these problems, but also bigger centres such as Regina and Saskatoon, said board chairwoman Mary Lee Booth. She hoped these assaults wouldn’t turn off people from joining the force, considering this industry is already a tough one.
“And thank God that you guys are really leading with compassion (when dealing with vulnerable people). And that’s one thing I will always be proud of our force, is that leadership really believes in having officers lead with compassion … ,” she continued.
“Sometimes you do put yourselves at risk. And I think that the public really needs to recognize and commend the people that take on this role.”
It’s positive that more officers are patrolling the community since there is a greater risk than before, as evidenced by police finding a sawed-off shotgun during a traffic stop, she added.
These numbers are not unique to Moose Jaw since they are increasing in every Canadian municipality, said Johns. However, he commended his officers for having the highest clearance (resolution) rates of crimes in Saskatchewan — especially with violent crimes — based on Statistics Canada data from July.
Commissioner Doug Blanc agreed that rising crime rates nationwide is unfortunate. Yet, he pointed to some areas from the November data that decreased, such as failing to comply with court orders. Conversely, he acknowledged that it’s not the police’s responsibility to force people to obey their court orders.
Data showed police responded to 413 incidents by Nov. 30, compared to 795 incidents in 2022 and 815 occurrences in 2021. This represents a year-over-year decrease of 48.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, Blanc wondered whether the assaults were minimal or serious, while he noted that a police interaction at an apartment building that he saw was a good reminder that multiple officers are now required when responding to situations.
When police catch people committing a crime, they sometimes also lay a charge of failing to obey court orders because those offenders had been instructed to follow conditions like curfews, said Johns.
Officers are always at risk of injury during assaults — there have been very few such incidents — but the agency has a good use-of-force model and members have been able to de-escalate most situations, he continued.
Meanwhile, members regularly receive ongoing training to keep their skills sharp and themselves safe when dealing with situations and use “reasonable force” when protecting themselves or the public, Johns added.
The next police board meeting is Thursday, Jan. 11.
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