Current spate defies 5-year trend
It might not always seem like it, but the number of robberies in Regina is actually down from the five-year average.
As of Tuesday (the day statistics were most recently available), members of the Regina Police Service had attended 39 calls pertaining to robbery this calendar year. While that is up 11 per cent when compared to last year’s numbers — there were 35 over the same time period — it’s actually down 16 per cent from the five-year average. (There have been a number of robbery complaints since Tuesday, but there were no readily available statistical comparisons for 2014 with the inclusion of the extra two days.)
“I think we expect the number to fluctuate,” Regina Police Service spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich said of the year-over-year increase. “A difference of four in that time, really, I’m not a statistician but I would suggest it’s probably not statistically significant. It’s just a difference of four events.”
That’s not to say police aren’t treating the existing problem seriously.
“The five-year picture on robberies — at least the year-to-date picture — suggests a downward trend but it remains an issue,” Popowich said. “I know that we’ve made a number of arrests in connection with robberies this year, but it still doesn’t remove the actual occurrence and the incident itself.”
Unlike a simple property offence, like a business breakin, robbery comes with inherent risks to the lives and safety of victims, with weapons often shown and violence threatened or used, making the offence a particular concern for police.
“For us, any crime against a person is of concern because you’re talking about the safety of people in our community, not just things and property,” Popowich said.
Police have targeted other problem areas such as auto theft and break and enter, resulting in significant reductions in crime statistics in those areas over a 10-year period. While police have placed some focus on robbery as part of its overall crime prevention strategy, Popowich said there’s no way to predict when the city might experience a rash of robberies; if there were, police might have better luck in preventing them.
“It’s not that simple because if it were, then you could resource to meet that demand,” she said.
Police try to prevent robbery simply by being present — ensuring officers are visible on the streets, conducting traffic stops and doing street checks. Police can also keep tabs on people who have repeatedly been the subject of calls for service.
Substance abuse and addictions often play into robbery, but it’s otherwise difficult to say exactly why certain people opt to commit this type of offence.
“There isn’t a single type of perpetrator ...,” Popowich said. “It may be driven by an addiction, and in that case people are taking risks with their safety and the safety of others that they wouldn’t normally do.”