Homicides, violent crimes, and bear spray incidents in Saskatoon all increased in 2024.

Police Chief Cam McBride says as of December, there were 309 recorded bear spray incidents, an all-time high for Saskatoon. He says there are three measures he plans on taking in 2025 to curb a further increase.

“We have to make sure that at the point of sale, there is adequate controls there in terms of who’s purchasing it. Then, I believe we need to look at the tracking of the product…and then the penalty needs to be appropriate so that it’s a deterrent, and not just an inconvenience.”

He adds that many of the bear spray perpetrators were youth.

“Within the number of individuals who’ve committed violent crime, the number of youths in that mix of suspects, is growing. So, this year there were more youth engaged in violent crime than we’ve seen in the past.”

There was a 7.7 per cent uptick in violent crime in 2024, with nearly 3,800 incidents in 2023 and 4,089 this year.

In 2024, as of December 20th, Saskatoon Police responded to 15 homicides, up from nine in 2023.

“Our highest ever was 16, so we’re kind of at the high end of average right now.”

On the bright side, property crime statistics are down, as are non-residential break-ins, and thefts from vehicles.

“Detached buildings statistics for break and enter were down 27 per cent, and our non-residential break and enters, which would be more business break and enters, were down 41 per cent.”

In 2025, McBride looks forward to starting a pilot project on investigating intimate partner violence and establishing a warrant enforcement team, as well as looking after the mental and emotional health of his staff.