Regina police have taken a bite out of property crime in the city, according to statistics released Wednesday. However, police also reported that crimes against people, like assault, have increased.
The statistics compare figures from the month of April 2008 to April 2009. They indicate a decrease in property crimes, such as auto theft, by 17.8 per cent.
Assaults and other crimes against people were up 10 per cent over the same time.
Regina police Chief Troy Hagen said the increase in the people-crime category was due to a spike in robbery cases.
"Assaults are up somewhat," Hagen said. "But also robberies are up over 24 per cent year-to-date over last year."
Hagen said most assaults are related to domestic disputes. He said robberies have become a concern.
"Street robberies have been the primary concern for our service," Hagen said. "It's really people that are stealing вЂ" robbing, actually вЂ" persons in the public of things like cellphones and things like that."
Hagen said it was too early to consider the increase a trend. He said he wants to study the numbers over a broader time frame.
"Each crime category fluctuates from month to month," Hagen said. "So what we want to do is look at a longer-term perspective."
He added that police will be using a number of tactics to deal with the areas of concern. He said that will include working with Crown prosecutors and the RCMP.
Police will also keep a close watch on repeat offenders.
"We monitor our habitual offenders," Hagen added. "So we have a number of different components to the strategy ... we also do some plainclothes work."
