(Submitted/PAPS)

By Susan McNeil

Crime

Prince Albert back up to third place in violent crime index

Aug 2, 2022 | 5:00 PM

Last year, Prince Albert was the third most violent city among Canadian communities with populations over 10,000.

The rank increased from fifth place in 2020, although the city kept its 10th place ranking for the amount of non-violent crimes committed.

“We continue to track crime trends on a daily basis and our focus remains on proactive engagement and initiatives that support prevention and public safety,” said Chief of Police Jonathan Bergen in an emailed news release.

According to Statistics Canada data released today, there were 1,174 violent Criminal Code incidents reported in Prince Albert in 2021, which equals a rate of over 3,000/100,000 people.

The city is consistently in the top five rankings when it comes to violent crimes and has fluctuated between fifth, third and even second place.

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When it comes to non-violent areas such as property crimes and drug possession, Prince Albert has remained consistent as well but at a lower percentage.

“The 2021 rankings reflect an upward trend in violent crime that our service, and others across Western Canada, continue to see,” said PAPS in the release.

“As our police members respond to an increasing number of calls for service each year, we continue to see more files involving guns, weapons, drugs and violence given the core population numbers for our community.”

All told, Prince Albert had 7,271 reported actual incidents last year, a rate of almost 18,000 per 100,000 people and an increase of 7.8 per cent.

Youth crime that is dealt with by way of charges has dropped and only 151 charges were laid last year, compared to almost 500 in 2017.

The number of youths not charged has also dropped from 88 five years ago to 16 in 2021.

Saskatchewan leads the provinces in the growth of homicide at 5.93 per 100,000 with Manitoba in second place.

The number of homicides continues to be higher amongst Indigenous people and racialized people, said PAPS.

PAPS sees some signs of hope when looking at the big picture and the fact that overall, the rankings have improved, but the service remains focused, they said.

“While we have seen improvements in our overall ranking, dropping to seventh in 2020, and sixth in both 2019 and 2018, combatting violent crime remains a priority for our police service and we continue to work with our agency and safety partners across the province to promote public safety and target gang activity, weapons violence, and property crime,” said the statement.

About 190,000 people shop or use services in the city and all fall under the protective services of the city police.

PAPS also pointed out that they have increased their ranks with two experienced officers joining from other agencies and seven new recruits starting on patrol duties.

Another four people are currently in training at police college in Regina.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow