The City of Moose Jaw is addressing its approach to crime in 2025. Police say crime rates are trending downward, but calls are still on the rise.
“We broke 20,000 calls for service it looks like for the 2024 year,” says Rick Johns, deputy Chief of Moose Jaw police. “Although we are seeing … a trend down in our crime rates, our calls for service continue to increase, and most of those calls have to do with just responding to social issues.”
Police have started implementing multiple changes to their policing approach, including body cameras for officers and targeting smaller crimes like trespassing. Despite the changes in focus, Johns says violent crime remains a priority for law enforcement.
“We would look at our violent crime rates as being a priority and ensuring that we are dealing with those both proactively and reactively, and also to ensure that our officers can do that in a safe manner,” he says.
Johns says its in-car reporting plan works towards the goal of reducing crime by allowing officers to file reports while on patrol.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Mayor James Murdock echoed the value of the plan.
“We are implementing it in our reporting so we can keep our officers on the street rather than at the police station doing paperwork,” says Murdock.
“At the time of an infraction or whatever the circumstance may be, they’ll have that equipment in their patrol cars or vehicle to enter those details at the time as opposed to having come back to the station to do that.”
Johns notes violent crime is only one area of focus for the city in 2025, placing emphasis on support for those impacted by crime as well.
“We’re also looking at enhancing our victim services area with the cooperation of victim services in Saskatchewan to ensure that we can provide an even better service model for victims of crime,” Johns says.
Murdock believes police presence in the community will go a long way to reducing crime numbers in the coming years.
“That’s something that I really want to see the city move forward in … we’re there for the public,” says Murdock. “That visibility, just giving people that reassurance that our local police force is here for them.”
Murdock says police have the full support of the city, ensuring they get the resources and support they need to achieve their crime-reduction goals.
The city’s focus on smaller crimes may put them in an advantageous position for tackling larger issues in the coming years.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.