Prince Albert Police Chief Jon Bergen. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Crime Stats

P.A. Police chief responds to violent crime in the city

Sep 6, 2019 | 2:09 PM

The chief of police for the Prince Albert Police Service says police continue to work to combat violent crime in the city, and he’s grateful for the community members who report violent crimes when they see it.

At a press conference Friday morning, Jon Bergen addressed recent incidents of violent crime in the city. To date, there have been five homicides in the city this year and two recent shootings. This compares to two homicides in 2018.

“Every death or serious injury of a loved one, caused by violence, is its own tragedy and is a sad scary time for our entire community,” Bergen said.

According to 2019 statistics, most violent crimes involve a weapon. There have been 114 incidents in the city this year involving knives, and 27 incidents involving guns. In eight of those incidents, guns were discharged. Bergen said many of these crimes are not random.

“They have not been random assaults and what we have observed is typically the victims are known to the offender and there is some sort of relationship there that has led to the offence,” he said.

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A recent gang suppression unit resulted in the arrest of 35 individuals with ties to street gangs. This month police are rolling out a new community policing unit. Bergen said the two police officers assigned to the unit will be engaged with schools, and will also be highly visibly in core areas of the city including cornerstone, downtown and the south hill shopping district. The officers will also have access to an ATV to help patrol the Rotary Trail.

“It’s a unit that can be used for selective enforcement when we need to respond to something specific,” he said.

Starting in January, Bergen said the police service will reshift its combined forces special enforcement unit into the integrated crime reduction team. The unit will focus on the local and rural areas to help target property crimes, violent crimes, and gang-related crimes.

Ward 6 Councilor Blake Edwards sits on the board of police commissioners, and said he would like to see the federal government provide more support to police to target drug activity, which has been linked to property crime.

“I think the federal government needs to step up and realize that people are not just drug dealers anymore. They are affecting the whole community all over the nation and I believe the punishment needs to increase,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell