| NOTE:
A version of this article also appeared in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix under
the headline: Sask. needs more crime fighters: MP: Breitkreuz
says stats show officers overtaxed
PUBLICATION: The Leader-Post
(Regina) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sask. MP demands more police on beat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Saskatchewan member of Parliament is calling for more police officers, saying the number of crimes in many communities in the province is well above the national average. Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton-Melville) said Thursday some Saskatchewan communities had, in 2003, up to two and three times the Criminal Code offences per police officer than the national yearly average of 43. Topping the list, compiled by Statistics Canada, were North Battleford at 254 crimes per officer; Fort Qu'Appelle at 163; Meadow Lake at 162; La Ronge at 159; and Lloydminster at 146. Breitkreuz's own community of Yorkton came in with 143 while Melville sat at 107. The Criminal Code offences listed include, among others, violent crime and property crime. "That's a phenomenal load per police officer," said Breitkreuz. "This is too much of a burden and it's causing our police to burn out and a lot of our communities are not getting proper policing." He said people in his riding have been approaching him concerned about crime and a perceived shortage of police officers to deal with it. "Just to show you how alarming the situation is, Saskatchewan has one of the highest crime rates in North America but also we have the highest ratio of Criminal Code incidents per police officer per year in the country," he said. "Because these police officers are so overworked, they aren't able to even go and investigate many of the crimes that are being reported, so then people stop reporting crimes ... This then gives the criminal more free reign because he knows the police don't have time to investigate and so crime keeps increasing." Insp. Bob Mills with Saskatchewan RCMP Client Services said while he would be happy with more officers, that would likely not be enough to address current problems. "We're just kind of like doctors: the more the better," he said. "But I think it's a much more complex problem than just paying for more policemen ... Just adding another 10 policemen doesn't tend to address the problem unless you have a plan for what they're going to do." He said while more officers likely are needed in busy centres like North Battleford, police need to continue to focus on targeted strategies and programs to address the root causes of crime and those who are habitually committing it. Mills said since it is the province and municipalities that contract and pay for RCMP services and outline how many police they will hire, taking the issue to the federal government will not do much to address shortages. Even so, Breitkreuz, who is vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Justice, said he intends to introduce a motion to the committee next week, asking that these shortages be investigated in order to take the findings and recommendations to Parliament. "I'm going to be calling on people from Saskatchewan to come forward and present their views to me and I'd like to take that to the justice committee," he said. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TRENDS ON POLICE PERSONNEL
AND EXPENDITURES, CANADA, 1962-2004 http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/2005_new/17.pdf CRIME STATISTICS FOR
44 SASK. CITIES & TOWNS, 2003 |