Prince Albert has three times more flight from police incidents than Regina

He explained the police service normally contributes some officers to the provincial Combined Traffic Services unit, but those officers were reassigned to stay in the city, and the number of flight from police incidents dropped the following year.

“We didn’t know whether or not the correlation or the downward trend that we saw in 2024 was a direct result of reallocating those resources, but we think it had something to do with it,” Nogier said.

In 2024, there were 217 incidents, a significant drop from the 437 cases in 2023.

Since hiring several analyst positions, the police service has been taking a closer look at crime statistics to learn more about trends in order to manage them.

Reasons for not stopping varied, but 24 per cent of drivers were in stolen vehicles; seven per cent had mismatched license plates, 32 per cent of incidents had no known reason, and the remainder were in non-stolen vehicles.

Nogier said most of the incidents happened at night, when there is less traffic, so it is easier for officers on patrol to note a stolen vehicle or the driver behaving suspiciously or speeding.

One of the ways police are responding is by ticketing the registered owners of the vehicles, even if they weren’t driving. Officers then interview the registered owner to find out whether or not the individual who was operating the car is known to them.

“We do think that regardless of who is operating that vehicle at the time, individuals who are responsible for vehicles do have a duty of care to ensure that people that may be in possession of their vehicle should be using it appropriately,” said Nogier.

One of the best ways to track fleeing vehicles is by air, something that can be done by drone or helicopter which they can sometimes access from the Saskatoon Police Service or RCMP.

The message Nogier would like to send offenders is that quick decisions can lead to further consequences down the road.

“So, there is a message for the community that does not want to stop for a police officer… is that though you may have a short-term win and that you may not be stopped if we make the decision to stop pursuing…the reality is that we will follow up on it. We will find out who was operating the vehicle and there will be a level of accountability.”

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social

by Susan McNeil

Prince Albert has three times more flight from police incidents than Regina

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