McBride: Violent crime is declining, but urges increased reporting

Saskatoon Police Chief Cam McBride said violent crime in the city appears to be slowing down.

“We’re trending in a good way when it comes to violent crime. I know, around the end of 2023, we were up around a 10 per cent increase in violent crime. That number is slowly creeping down over the course of the year,” said McBride on The Evan Bray Show this past Tuesday.

“Right now, year over year, we’re sitting at around 7.7 per cent increase over 2023 and while that’s very concerning, the number is getting better.”

McBride said crime is also trending down when it comes to property crime — which is still up 6.8 per cent compared to this time last year.

When it comes to property crime, however, McBride acknowledges he’s heard stories of there being a hesitancy to report crimes.

He mentions without knowing about what’s happening, it’s not easy for police to respond.

“We’re always encouraging members of the community to please continue to report property crime, even if you feel nothing’s going to happen or there’s no point to it,” McBride said. “It really helps inform our operations and our deployment. The more that’s reported, the better we can be responsive to the needs.”

McBride adds hearing that people don’t want to report crimes because they don’t think anything will be done about it bothers him.

He said over the next year, he’ll be looking at how the SPS can better respond to reports of property crime.

“One of the things that we’re struggling with is the sheer volume right now of calls for service, and we’re looking to augment our front-line staffing in order to address some of those concerns,” he said.

“I think another thing is with regard to online and telephone reporting and so when an individual takes the option to report online — it does sometimes take a while for us to get back — and then there’s the perception that we don’t care or that we’re not responsive to the need. I understand that and I’m hearing it and I desire to make a change. We’ll be looking into 2025 really wanting to make a difference in that regard.”

Even though McBride said he’ll continue to look into their response times, he’s also reiterating a call for people to report crimes that might’ve been committed.

“Reporting it helps us so much,” he said. “Even when the community member doesn’t see their contribution, the contribution is there.”