Looking back at 2022, the Chief of the Saskatoon Police Service says call volumes have risen, and the City is seeing more property crime and more firearm offences.
Chief Troy Cooper says around mid-2021 when COVID restrictions were lifted, the Police Service experienced an increase in calls and that continued this year (2022), with about a ten to fifteen per cent rise. About half are related to social issues more so than crimes.

Chief Cooper believes it’s because of the increase in homelessness and addictions, which is something many communities are experiencing, and Saskatoon has not been immune. Because there are more drugs, Cooper expects that is why property crime is on the rise.

Another trend being seen nationally is an increase in firearm offences. Saskatoon’s Police Chief says it’s about a seven-year trend nationally, and it has been over the last three years in Saskatoon and area.

Of the firearms seized this year, just under half are imitation guns, but Cooper notes that officers can’t tell the difference, so they have to assume it’s real.  It is always at the back of a police officer’s mind, the Police Chief says, that there are more firearms in the community.