Crime down but Edmontonians feel unsafe due to 'social disorder': report

As Edmonton turns the calendar over to the new year, city officials are trumpeting a reduction in crime overall — but seeing people in the streets has residents still feeling unsafe.

That’s according to statistics included in a report on safety and security presented to council in November. But with budget deliberations taking priority, councillors were only able to discuss the report on Dec. 17.

“Edmonton’s violent crime rate is now lower than both the national and provincial averages,” said deputy city manager Jennifer Flamen. “Members (are) increasingly intervening in crime before it (becomes) a public complaint or (escalates) further.”

Flamen said the number of times police sprung upon a crime in progress and called it in increased 31.4 per cent.

“Our targeted initiatives like the guns and gang strategy and the city Edmonton Police Service’s deployment partnerships on transit are working.”

The data shows that the reduced crime overall is inverse with the city’s expanding population. Flamen told council Edmonton’s population grew 16 per cent between 2019 and 2024 — more than 163,000 people. Crime rate is measured in incidents per capita, which means the crime rate has dropped six per cent since 2019.

According to the EPS’s annual report, violent crimes are down 10 per cent from the previous year. The crime severity index is down five per cent overall and six per cent in transit areas.

Despite the downward trend, police have said violent crime is still up from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police responded to 425 incidents involving firearms in 2024, compared with 321 complaints in 2019. Knife violence also increased from 856 incidents in 2020 to 979 in 2024, and the number of incidents involving caustic sprays like bear spray increased from 635 incidents in 2019 to 999 in 2024.

In total, there were 16,652 violent incidents in 2024 compared to 13,224 in 2019. However, police last year confirmed the overall crime rate is at the lowest in a decade.

Extreme poverty making people feel unsafe

Despite the recent downturn, Edmontonians have mixed views about how safe they feel.

In the report, data shows there were nearly 2,500 fewer criminal incidents reported in 2024 compared with 2019 — though the report notes city residents’ feelings don’t reflect the data. Citing the city’s 2025 Service Satisfaction Survey, Flamen told council the percentage of people who feel safe varies demographically.

While overall 54 per cent agreed that Edmonton is a safe city, which is a six per cent increase from last year, 39 per cent of parents agreed with the notion. Additionally, 36 per cent of people who belong to visible minorities and 22 per cent of Indigenous community members said they felt safe.

Flamen said more than 50 per cent of those surveyed felt there wasn’t enough police presence in their neighbourhood and the demand for police presence is outpacing the department’s capacity. The reason? While crime is down, “social disorder” incidents are climbing significantly. These include encampments and trespassing, calls about “trouble with a person” and welfare checks, which Flamen said have steadily increased year-over-year since 2020.

As of Nov. 17, Homeward Trust confirmed 4,697 people are experiencing homelessness — 1,866 of whom report they’re living on the streets.

“The public has told us directly through the service satisfaction survey,” Flamen said. “For those who strongly disagreed with this statement, ‘Overall I feel Edmonton is a safe city’, over half mentioned visible public distress related to homelessness and/or substance use in our public spaces.

“We’re careful not to criminalize poverty but to state clearly the presence of struggling individuals, be it overdoses, encampments, or open drug use, is the number one contributor to dissatisfaction of safety as reported by residents. Other drivers involve the functional loss of our public spaces. Nearly 40 per cent mentioned public safety issues left unaddressed. Roughly a third mentioned transit and LRT safety, specifically citing fears about harassment, drug use or lack of security presence.

“When Edmontonians do not feel safe, this causes them to withdraw from public spaces and community interaction. This then further weakens our community’s resilience and ability to keep shared spaces safe and welcoming without relying on formal enforcement.”

Flamen added that as of May 6, 2025, Edmonton Fire Services had already administered more naloxone than it used in all of 2024. Edmonton leads the province in fentanyl overdoses.

“While overdoses happen in private homes as well, it is the public medical emergencies on our streets and in transit stations that residents see,” she said. “This creates a cycle of vulnerability. The Edmontonians currently sleeping in shelters or unsheltered are arguably the people most unsafe in our city, yet it is their presence cited as the primary reason that other residents feel unsafe.”

Province ‘holds the keys’

Recreation centres and public libraries are also seeing a dramatic increase in incidents. Flamen said there were 6,302 safety incidents across the city’s recreation facilities in 2024 — a 40 per cent increase since 2019.

This eats into the public purse — Flamen said the city had to spend $7.5 million to address security concerns. Edmonton Public Library’s security budget has grown by 164 per cent.

“We are now spending library funds on security guards just to maintain a baseline of safety so these spaces remain accessible,” she said. “When residents encounter graffiti, aggressive driving and disorder, they stop using public spaces. Instea,d they stay home. This creates a cycle where hubs become underutilized, weakening the vitality we are trying to build.”

Flamen concluded by pointing out the city is doing everything within its power to address these issues, which include designing neighbourhood roads and school zones in ways to make speeding pointless, expanding day shelters and providing mental health and career supports.

But she noted ultimately it’s the Alberta government which controls the levers behind road safety and homelessness.

“The Government of Alberta holds the keys to addressing the structural causes of our safety issues,” said Flamen. “They legislate and fund the four systems that create our biggest pressures — those being housing, mental health, addiction and justice. Gaps in these systems directly cause the visible disorder we manage on our streets, transit system and in our community spaces.

“They’re also our key partner — the province contributes 80 per cent of leveraged Family and Community Support Services funding. This partnership is essential for reducing future social costs caused by violence, crime and disorder.”

ebowling@postmedia.com

Related

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun