Regina police saw increase of homicides, arson in June
The Regina Police Service (RPS) says the majority of crimes were on the decline for the month of June. However, severe crimes, such as homicide and arson, did see a bump.
At Tuesday's board of police commissioners meeting, RPS reported a 66 per cent increase of homicides compared to this time last year.
'Unfortunately, right now I think we're at eight for the year. That's not a good number,' Acting Chief Lorilee Davies told reporters at the meeting.
'Obviously, one homicide is too many, but there isn't a lot for police in terms of prevention of those homicides. I can say that our teams, our major crimes teams, our forensic teams are working literally 24 hours a day to be able to hold those people accountable.'
Arson incidents in the city continue to rise as well, seeing a year-to-date increase of 10 per cent, or 28 incidents, with garbage bin fires accounting for 49 per cent of all arsons.
As for property related crimes, RPS saw a 16 per cent decrease – 877 fewer incidents – for the month of June. Along with crimes against people decreasing by 15 per cent, which includes theft under $5,000, mischief and willful damage, as well as vehicle thefts.
In terms of property crimes and crimes against people, RPS received 1,155 fewer reported incidents compared to 2024.
'In terms of the crime stats, that's a really positive number to see. I think it's a testament to the great work that our Regina Police Services is doing,' Mayor Chad Bachynski expressed.
'In terms of the feeling of the city, I have had good commentary anecdotally about the sentiment and the perception of safety. I think those things do go hand-in-hand.'
At the monthly meeting, RPS also spoke about having a 'fulsome operational plan' for the upcoming Queen City Ex (QCX), which begins Wednesday and runs until Sunday.
'We'll have a number of officers out there on the grounds all throughout the week starting tomorrow morning,' Davies said.
'Whether that is helping people, if they get separated from a child, or if there is an incident there. We will have a lot of presence out at QCX just to ensure that everybody is there to have a good time.'
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