Stalking charges on the rise in Regina

The number of charges for criminal harassment and stalking in Regina has more than doubled in the first nine months of the year.

The latest statistics presented at the board of police commissioners meeting on Wednesday show 29 such offences to the end of September, compared to 12 by the end of Septemberlast year.

Police chief Troy Hagen says it is difficult to determine exactly why the numbers are up, but he says there were no unusual patterns reported in the latest numbers.

"In the vast majority of cases the offender is known to the victim in one form or another whether it's say a common-law relationship or some form of relationship so it's not totally random," Hagen told reporters.

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But Hagen says police take the offence very seriously, particularly in a province with the worst rate of domestic violence and homicides by intimate partners in the country.

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"I'm not minimizing the seriousness of what's happening out there at all. I guess what I am saying is that unfortunately, especially with those offences, it's long been recognized that it's severely underreported.

"So what I am suggesting, if there is a silver lining in this, is that if people have been victimized in the past and they haven't reported it if they're coming now and are more apt to do so, more willing to do so I would suggest that's very positive," said Hagen.