EdmontonPoliceServices

There have been seven arson fires in southeast and southwest Edmonton neighbourhoods since May and police continue to investigate if there is a connection. At two of the fires ransom notes were left on neighbouring properties demanding Bitcoin money transfers. Police are asking people in the neighbourhoods where the fires were set to come forward with any information they might have including camera footage and requesting that people make certain that all cameras and motion sensors are working.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 780-423-4567 or anonymous tips can be sent to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

In spite of the huge investment of time & money in creating Edmonton's public transit system and police reporting violent crime in Edmonton’s transit centre is down, a recent poll indicates that majority of Edmontonians still do not feel safe using public transit.

Former Edmonton police officer turned criminologist Dan Jones, the Chair of justice studies at NorQuest College thinks the police report number doesn’t tell the whole story.“ He wonders if its crime that’s going down or is it reporting that going down?

When asked to comment on transit safety Mike Ellis, Alberta’s minister of public safety said that perception is reality and his comment must become a major consideration. As long as people perceive that it is unsafe they will hesitate to use public transit which creates a double whammy that must be addressed. Firstly, public transit must be made truly and actually safe and secondly that will have to be proven and communicated in such a way that will change the public's perception. Until that happens "unsafe" will remain in the minds of too many Edmontonians when they think of public transit.

An Edmonton Police news release today brought great news and was optimistic of more of the same. In addition to the drop in shootings police seized 70 firearms in May and 332 overall in 2024 compare to 521 firearms in the same period. The decrease in the number of firearms seized leaves police optimistic that their targeted efforts to reduce gun crimes are working as intended.

Edmonton Police Services (EPS) have released further details on the recent spate of extortion based crimes targeted against members of Edmonton's South Asian community. They believe the crimes are committed by local criminals who receive their directives from an Indian who is the kingpin of an organized crime ring. EPS believes threats are communicated via WhatsApp and the main targets seem to be home builders who are thought to be able to pay the extortionists.

EPS has formed a dedicated task force, is working with other agencies and is asking the community to get involved.