Police say school and mental health resources saw increased demand in 2021
"COVID had had an effect on crime rates across Canada and I've talked with police services and police leaders across the country, everybody felt the same thing."
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Annual district reports from the Regina Police Service (RPS) show crime is gradually returning to pre-pandemic rates in the city.
Police Chief Evan Bray said during Tuesday’s Board of Police Commissioner meeting that through 2021, crime rates returned closer to pre-pandemic levels. Asked what impact COVID-19 had on crime in the city, he said “big.”
“COVID had had an effect on crime rates across Canada and I’ve talked with police services and police leaders across the country; everybody felt the same thing,” said Bray, citing a change in behaviours by people around the country.
While break and enters and thefts went down, issues like addiction and mental illness worsened leading to different issues for police.
Bray explained the year-end district reports are a chance to get a better idea in terms of the geography of policing and the structure of how things work.
“It allows us to understand how we’re deploying resources,” he said, creating heat maps for crime and setting a framework for what crimes happens where in the city and at what frequency.
The Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) is located in the north district. In 2021 they handed out 34,522 summary offence traffic tickets and “1,026 impaired driving calls for service which resulted in 374 drivers being charged.”
Coun. Lori Bresciani (Ward 4) asked of those charges how many were for marijuana impairment.
Sgt. Ian Barr said that would be looped in with impaired driving tickets adding that traffic units have the ability to conduct a roadside test.
Bray said it is rare that someone is exclusively drug-impaired when they are charged, saying it is more often that there is a combination or the person is exclusively alcohol-impaired.
The Regina intersectoral Partnership (TRiP) saw a surge in use in 2021 with 103 referrals marking a 63.5 per cent increase from 2020 and a 133.5 per cent in conferences held.
TRiP is a program administered through Regina Public Schools that aims to help children who are at risk stay out of the justice system and to improve community safety.
Police attribute the rise in use to children coming back to school after remote learning.
Also, Violent Threat Risk Assessments (VTRA) rose 60 per cent to 55 cases. VTRA is a violence prevention system in Regina schools and police say they think the reason for the increase relates to kids returning to school.
Police and Crisis Team (PACT) also saw a spike in use in 2021.
PACT interventions rose from 312 to 1,077 last marking a 245 per cent increase coming off the number of interactions increasing from 1,006 to 2,301.
When it comes to PACT, demand has doubled but the staffing has remained the same. Bray said the four-person team is under some strain, given the increase in workload.
“We have new clients and new referrals coming in, but the clients that we’ve been helping, they don’t go away,” said Bray. The program works in collaboration with the Saskatchewan Health Authority to try and create better outcomes for people with mental illness or who are in distress, diverting them from incarceration and funnelling them toward services.
Year-over-year PACT saw an 82 per cent increase in mental health service referrals and an increase from 69 to 311 or 351 per cent for other services.
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