Regina crime down 31 per cent from 2019 level: Report

There was a large decrease in crimes reported to Regina police in August compared to the same time last year, but there also were some grim increases.

According to the crime stats released at the Board of Police Commissioners meeting Tuesday, August saw a year-to-date decrease of 31 per cent in total crime reported to the Regina Police Service over the same period in 2019.

There was a 4.3 per cent decrease in crimes against persons and a 36.1 per cent drop in crimes against property.

But murders have seen an uptick in Regina in 2020, with two homicide investigations taking place in August. That brings the total to 10 for the year, which is a 66.7 per cent increase compared to 2019’s six murders.

Auto thefts were down by 528 incidents from the same period in 2019, leading to a 50.8 per cent decrease.

There has been an increase in arson in Regina, with 32 incidents in Regina in August bringing the total to 169 in 2020 for an increase of 29 per cent over 2019. There were actually fewer arson incidents in August 2020 than in the same month in 2019, when 33 occurred.

This past August saw 48 incidents of impaired driving investigated by police, bringing the total to 243 in 2020. That’s just one more than 2019 during the same time period.

The entire report can be found online.