Attempted murders in Regina have increased sharply this year.

Regina police statistics show there were three attempted murders in the city this July, making a total of 17 attempted murders in the city in 2016 before August.

At the same time last year there were four attempted murders on police records. This year's number represents a 325 per cent increase.

Acting chief Dean Rae says that spike is "absolutely" a concern for the police service.

"We've seen quite an increase this year in our guns and violence in general and it is concerning to us and we're trying to work toward a resolution," he said.

Rae added that it's not always the type of crime that can be prevented by efforts from law enforcement.

"A lot of these things are one-off events that happen and we don't get called until after," he said. "So it's difficult for the Regina Police Service to stop that, but we take them very seriously, we investigate them to the fullest and we hold people accountable."

The acting chief said many of those crimes are tied to the use weapons such as guns and knives.

Regina Mayor Michael Fougere, who is also chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners, also responded to the numbers.

"You know there's always concern about that kind of activity. And again we have a different and changing issue with respect to crime in the city but the police service is following up on those as well," he said.