REGINA – Saskatoon and Regina have the highest rates of police reported crimes in the country.
A report released Wednesday by Statistics Canada compares the number of crimes per 100, 000 population, across 33 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs).
Regina fell to second spot in both crime rate and crime severity index (CSI), while Saskatoon took the top spot in both categories.
The good news is the crime rate has dropped every year in the Queen City since 2003 and is leading crime reduction in the country.
READ MORE: Crime going down in Regina according to police
“We’re not raising the victory flag, obviously, I mean we know we have a tremendous amount of work in front of us,” Police Chief Troy Hagen told reporters Wednesday. “But what’s really important for everyone to keep in context, is we have tremendous momentum here.”
He credits the reduction over the past ten years to good policing among law enforcement agencies, community partnerships, and enhanced technology.
The report cites Regina’s CSI decrease primarily due to a decline in police-reported incidents of trafficking, producing and distribution of cocaine.
“While that is good news more work needs to be done of course,” said Mayor Michael Fougere.
“We’re still higher than Canada, no question about that, but we continue to see a reduction. We have a safe city.”
Canada as a whole saw a decrease in serious crimes, dropping to its lowest level since 1969.
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