Crime continues to trend downwards in Moose Jaw compared to last year.
Total crimes against the person are down slightly to 1.6 per cent compared to the end of September 2023, with 429 offences recorded so far, compared to 436 by this point in 2023.
Within that category there’s been a 24.6 per cent decrease in assault with a weapon causing bodily harm (46 instances this year), and assaults on police are down 52.9 per cent (8 offences this year).
Robberies are up 83.3 per cent (11 offences recorded this year), and sexual assaults are also up 20.5 per cent (47 offences).
Total crimes against property are down 27 per cent compared to this time last year, with 1309 offences this year compared to 1793 last year. This includes an overall reduction of 20.2 per cent in breaking and entering (158 offences this year), and 33.7 per cent decrease in theft under $5000 (590 offences).
Theft of a motor vehicle is up 7.5 per cent, with 43 offences recorded so far in 2024.
Police Chief Rick Bourassa said the numbers run counter to the narrative that crime is rising. “I continue to see in that online world, this narrative the crime is out of control, and we have to get tough on crime, and all these things. I don’t know what ‘tough on crime’ means – we deal with things as they arise."
He said that people confuse some instances of disruption and disorder as crime.
There’s been a 4.7 per cent increase in calls for service compared to 2023, with 15581 logged so far. “We will be over 20,000 calls for service this year and about 3,000 reported crimes. We attend to six times more things that aren’t crime than things that are crime.”