13 attempted murder cases in Regina so far, up from 3 last year
CBC News | Posted: June 29, 2016 4:10 PM | Last Updated: June 29, 2016
Overall, violent crime is down about 5%
New Regina police statistics show there were 13 alleged attempted murders in the first five months of 2016, compared to three over the same period last year.
The May crime report went to the Regina Board of Police Commissioners on Wednesday.
Overall crime in the year to date (with June statistics not included) went up by 763 offences or 16 per cent.
Deputy chief Dean Rae speculated that a downturn in the economy and an influx of methamphetamine in the community has lead to the spike in crime.
Despite the spike in attempted murders — with five in May alone — overall crimes against the person went down by about five per cent.
However, Rae said there has been an increase in gun violence in the city.
This comes after a weekend where four teenagers were arrested on 58 charges relating to firearms.
95 firearms seized
Since the end of May, the Regina Police Service has seized 95 firearms. Rae said these are often stolen from homes and cars where they have not been properly secured or stored safely.
By the end of that month, there had been four homicides, compared to five over the same period in 2015.
Meanwhile, property crimes have been about 21 per cent higher this year compared to 2015: 3,909 versus 3,234.
Those numbers have been pushed up in part by a substantial increase in auto thefts from 229 in the first five months of 2015 to 382 so far this year.