The Moose Jaw Police Service is bucking trends when it comes to property crime in the city. 

In the statistical extract for August, it showed that total crimes against property increased by 5.3 per cent from 1009 incidents in 2021 to 1062 in 2022. 

However, there was a decrease in property crimes in the month of August alone compared to last year. There was a total of 131 crimes against the property this August, while there were 215 crimes in 2021. 

“With crimes against property, we have been seeing some pretty significant increases and those have eased. We have seen increases in breaking and entering. We have also seen increases in smaller thefts, thefts under $5,000,” said Chief Rick Bourassa. 

In particular, the police saw an increase of 71.9 per cent in breaking and entering of businesses and a 16.6 per cent increase in thefts under $5,000.  

Bourassa added that all of the thefts have been investigated and charges have been laid in some, while others there haven’t been enough evidence to proceed with charges. As for breaking and entering, he said they have been investigated and a number of charges have been laid. 

Bourassa also told the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners last week that the police have been doing some significant operations when it comes to property crimes. 

“In October, you will hear back from me. I just can't speak now, but you will hear back from me on some results of some pretty significant pieces we've been doing locally targeting some of the issues that we're facing,” Bourassa told the board. 

Meanwhile, Moose Jaw saw a decrease of 2.8 per cent year-to-date when it comes to crimes against the person. There were 355 crimes against the person in 2021 compared to 345 this year. For the month of August, it was cut in half. There were 52 crimes against the person in August of 2021 and 26 in 2022. 

Overall, Bourassa noted that crimes against the person in Moose Jaw is slightly lower than national rates, but property crimes are higher. 

The Moose Jaw Police Service saw a significant jump in calls for service as it increased by 19.3 per cent. The police received over 2,000 more calls this year compared to 2021.  

“It's just the higher demands for police services. Again, we anticipated some of this with the stressors of the pandemic and we had it, all across the country, a decrease in calls and now we're beginning to see an increase over where we were,” Bourassa said. 

For the month of August, the police service received over 200 more calls compared to August of 2021.