SASKATOON – The overall crime rate in Saskatoon is down from last year.
According to statistics from Saskatoon Police Service, there have been 1,978 crimes against the person up to the end of July compared to 2,134 last year in the same period.
Crimes against the person include murder, attempted murder, assaults and armed robberies.
Property crimes were also down, with 6,280 reported compared to 7,763 by the end of July 2012.
Saskatoon police Chief Clive Weighill attributes part of the overall decline to having more officers on the streets and the good economics in the city.
However, there are areas of concern.
Bike and vehicle thefts are currently major issues, with a lot of the bike thefts happening in downtown parkades.
“We’ve had a lot of vehicle thefts this year and about a third of those are because people are leaving keys in their cars,” said Weighill.
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Weighill said people need to remove their keys even if the car is parked in a garage and bikes always need to be locked.
On the traffic side, collisions are up 10 per cent from last year, but the number of people injured is down.
“(People) are far more apt to end up in hospital from a traffic collision than crime,” said Weighill.
“We can have seven or eight people sent to the hospital over a weekend from traffic collisions and nobody thinks much of it. You have one stabbing and people are very concerned, yet the chances of you coming to ill effect through crime are slim compared to what’s going to happen in traffic collisions”.
The top reason for those collisions? Distracted drivers.
“Distracted driving is still a problem. Cell phones and texting you can still see every day, lots of people still texting and using their cell phone.”
Weighill said speed is another big factor and would like to see photo radar in the city.
“I am a proponent of fixed radar. I don’t think we should be moving it around, I’d like it so people always know where it is so there’s no confusion or trickery that the police are doing anything.”
However, Weighill said having eight more traffic officers on the street is starting to pay dividends, with enforcement up 20 per cent from two-and-a-half years ago.
As for lowering the crime rate even more, Weighill said education will be a key factor along with working with partners on social issues like poverty, poor housing and a marginalized population.
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