At the monthly Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Thursday, the mid-year crime report was filed and it shows a decrease of 19.6 percent from 2019 numbers.
Several areas saw significant drops including auto theft which is down by over 48 percent and robbery which is down 24 percent from this time a year ago.
Some areas did take a big leap though including sexual-related crimes with the number being up almost 70 percent from last year.
Police Chief Evan Bray believes the reason for this is more and more people aren’t afraid anymore to detail what has happened to them and are coming to authorities.
“The conversation that happens not only in our community, but globally now when it comes to sexual assault and sexual violence is at a point where people feel much more comfortable and empowered in a positive way to come forward and be taken seriously.” Bray told the meeting. “We are more than happy to have people come in and tell us what their experience was so we can conduct a proper investigation. It’s not possible for us to do that when the claims come in anonymously.
That quote comes as an Instagram account has been created where survivors of sexual violence are speaking out about what happened to them with those stories naming the person behind the alleged behaviour.
When it comes to why the overall number has taken an almost 20 percent decline, Bray says COVID-19 would play a big factor as many were staying home thus reducing numbers, but another big factor would be the ongoing work of police and their partners to reduce crime and make Regina a safer place to live.
