The latest Crime Severity Index, and other police-reported crime statistics, were released by Statistics Canada Tuesday. The numbers show the Crime Severity Index in Weyburn dropped by nearly 25 per cent in 2024, the largest decrease of any city in Saskatchewan. In fact, the total number of Criminal Code violations was the lowest the city has seen in over 25 years. In addition to the decline in the crime severity index, Weyburn also saw a drop in crimes against the person and crimes against property. All the data drew a positive reaction from Weyburn’s Police Chief, Brent VanDeSype.
The chief credited a lot of the success of Weyburn to the residents of the city. He stated they are aware, engaged, and willing to report suspicious behaviour.
“The key there is to have somebody that takes that initiative and calls the police immediately," VanDeSype told Discover Weyburn. “We're only, you know, a few pairs of eyes where there's 10 to 12,000 people out there that can help us keep this community safe.”
The crime severity index is a datapoint that is released every July by Statistics Canada. It measures the severity of crimes by assigning a weight to various offences based on their seriousness, as well as being based on actual sentences handed down in all provinces and territories. Serious crimes are assigned high weights, and less serious offences have lower weights.
While the severity of crime is down, Chief VanDeSype notes that the overall volume of calls for service remains consistently high. He explained there are roughly 5,000 calls for service a year in Weyburn, and last year, that resulted in 820 Criminal Code violations, including traffic-based ones such as impaired driving.
The number of calls isn’t something that is distressing for the chief, however. He explained the high volume isn’t a negative, but rather it is a sign of public confidence in the Weyburn Police Service.
“I think that shows confidence that the community is able to call us when they need to.”
While the local numbers for Weyburn are important, they don’t exist in a vacuum. The 25 per cent drop in the crime severity index for Weyburn was nearly five times the provincial change. It was also larger than the decline seen in Estevan, just down Highway 39, but sharing many demographics with The Opportunity City. On the flip side, Warman, just outside of Saskatoon, saw its crime severity index jump by nearly 29 per cent, the only city in the province to see an increase.
While he is happy to see the numbers, Chief VanDeSype knows it doesn’t take much to make a big difference.
“In a community this size, if we have one or two serious incidents, these stats can change quite significantly,” he explained.
When looking closer at the incident-based statistics, crimes against the person, or what is classed as violent Criminal Code violations by Statistics Canada, were down by 25 per cent. Property crime violations were down by 13 per cent. The number of Criminal Code violations reported by police in 2024 was also the lowest seen in more than 25 years.
While all the news is positive, Chief VanDeSype warned against complacency.
“We've got to keep our foot in the gas, keep doing what we're doing, be engaged and take the initiative to call the police when you do see something that is suspicious.”
Residents, though, should take pride in the reputation the city has developed, VanDeSype continued.
He concluded, “We're very proud. We're down 25 per cent from the previous year, which is the greatest drop of all the municipalities in Saskatchewan.”
As for the perennial rivalry with the city's closest neighbour, VanDeSype added with a smile, “Estevan is our direct competitor, whether it be hockey or policing or the community overall, so it's just a feather in our cap.”