Regina sees drastic drop in crime severity index over 2020

Regina saw the biggest decrease in crime among a metropolitan area in all of Canada in 2020, according to the annual crime severity index.

Statistics Canada released data Tuesday showing no other area with over over 100,000 people saw a decrease in crime quite like the Regina region did.

The total crime rate was down 27 per cent compared to 2019, with motor vehicle theft and property crime seeing the steepest falls with 43 and 34 per cent respectively.

Severe crimes such as murder, sexual assault and break and enters were also down 20 per cent in total.

Regina Police Service (RPS) chief, Evan Bray, says lock downs and other COVID-19 restrictions certainly played a large part in the decrease of crime throughout the city.

“If people are staying in their homes and not going anywhere, there may be less opportunities for crime in certain areas,” Bray said. “Crimes of opportunity will increase as the world returns back to whatever this new normal looks like.

“It feels good to know that we saw the largest decrease of crime of any of our partners across Canada, I think that’s a good news story. There’s a lot that goes into that and a lot of it has to do with our citizens and different community based organizations and in helping that happen.”

It wasn’t just Regina that saw a steep decrease in crime throughout the year, as the rest of the country saw significant differences compared to prior years as well.

Even after seeing the largest decrease in total crime, Regina is still ranked fifth in the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) rank for total crime severity index, as well as 3rd in the violent crime severity index.

(Stats Canada)

There are some areas of concern for the RPS.

“Drugs were a big problem in 2020, our overdoses were at an all time high,” Bray said. “When it comes to the to the drug world, we know that enforcement is a part of it as we have to disrupt these illicit substances coming into the community.

“But sounding like a broken record, we have to help people that have an addiction. The addiction is a health problem, It’s not one that handcuffs are going to solve.”

Drug offences saw the largest increase in Regina compared to any other crime, with an 11 per cent increase.

Sexual assaults were the other only crime category that saw an increase in the region, going up by one per cent.

“This is a category that we’re always cognizant of and quite concerned about, given the fact that we know a large number of sexual assaults go unreported in our community,” Bray said when he was asked about the increase in cases.

Mayor Sandra Masters says that despite the positive results, there is a lot that needs to be looked at as we continue through 2021  — especially when it comes to drugs.

“I don’t think I need to tell anybody that the pandemic changed all Canadians’ behaviour, as well as criminal behaviour in the city,” Masters said. “It will be important to identify trends in order to allocate resources, the number one increase we are looking at is drug enforcement.

“I’m very proud of the police force for taking the pandemic and actually really focusing in on some of the issues that are plaguing our city.”