The City of Yorkton saw a 19 per cent increase in property crime last year, according to a review from Yorkton RCMP.
Staff Sgt. Burton Jones, detachment commander for Yorkton RCMP, shared the latest crime data based in the city.
“In the last two years of comparison, our personal offences such as assaults, are up in Yorkton by seven per cent,” Jones stated.
“It isn’t exceedingly high, but it’s still of concern because it’s up. We also have our property crime offences which are up 19 per cent. That one is a bit more troubling. On a positive note, our criminal code impaired driving is down at about 12 per cent. That’s always very good for us to see.”
Aside from responding to property crime offences – such as stolen vehicles, theft, broken windows, and other acts of vandalism – Jones said RCMP in the city have also responded to more reports of illegal drug use.
“The main issues that we do deal with here as a police service in Yorkton is we deal a lot with illicit drug use,” he told CTV News.
“Some of the big drugs now are fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Those are the most prevalent I would say right now in Yorkton. We’ve been dealing with that for a number of years, overdoses, and things like that.”
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According to a Saskatchewan RCMP report, property crime has increased by 33 per cent over the last 10 years across the province. Criminal offences have increased by 43 per cent in the north district, 27 per cent in the central district, and 19 per cent in the south district.
Asked if increased property damages may correlate with the worsening drug crisis in the province – Jones agreed.
“In 20 years of policing and seeing the different trends over that period of time, one thing does reflect with another, I don’t think anything is an issue on its own. They do pour into one, and I think drug use is a very big part of it,” he explained.
“I think that in the recent years these illicit drugs that are on the street, very dangerous drugs, have come down in price substantially. They are a lot cheaper to obtain nowadays. With that, you have increased use, then you have increased addiction and then that can bring with it, increased crime,” he added.
Yorkton’s city council said it is aware of the issue and plans to address it by hiring a Barriers to Access Coordinator – a dedicated person to help link vulnerable people to local resources.
“Right now, we are in budget looking at potentially adding more capacity to our bylaw officers,” shared Mayor Aaron Kienle.
“Also, there’s a grant from the federal government that we’re hoping to be able to be a part of. That would provide a position that would almost be like a coordinator or person that could find these people who are having more of a struggle in their life and coordinate them with, whether it’s mental health, or with different services and supports inside the community.”
The mayor added that the city continuously works with the provincial police force, its bylaw officers, and other public safety groups to address the larger global issue and its impact to the city.
“I just sat on a social housing committee, our protective services committee, and all of the work SIGN is doing, SHA, all of the different partners,” voiced Kienle.
“There is certainly and its well identified, now it’s just a matter of all of us coming together and finding ways to support these people. Certainly, with this grant, if we’re able to get it, that dedicated will elevate a lot of the stresses we’re seeing.”
