Kingston Police reported increases in several categories of crime during the third quarter of 2026, including property offences, assaults, sexual offences, and drug-related offences, although the Chief of Police cautioned that comparisons between yearly quarters do not necessarily reflect longer-term trends.
The figures, covering July through September, were presented to the Kingston Police Service Board at its Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, meeting as part of the service's quarterly statistical report.
Crimes against property rose from 1,667 in the third quarter of 2025 to 1,799 in the same period in 2026, an increase of about eight per cent.
The increase prompted a question from Police Service Board Chair Gregory Ridge, who asked if Kingston Police would identify other notable changes in the statistics.
Deputy Chief Scott Gee pointed to several areas, including a significant reduction in vehicle thefts.
Here in Kingston, Gee said, “We're seeing that trend essentially cut in half year over year.”
Reported vehicle thefts fell from 59 to 27, a decrease of about 54 per cent. That reduction reflects broader efforts to combat auto theft across Ontario, including provincial investments in enforcement and measures to disrupt the export of stolen vehicles, Gee explained.
"Our province has invested heavily in combating auto theft," he said.
Gee also acknowledged the role of increased security measures taken by vehicle owners.
Board member Stephen Burnett raised the possibility that enhanced inspections of shipping containers at the Port of Montreal were contributing to the decline. Gee agreed that measures at ports were likely having an impact, noting that reducing demand for stolen vehicles could also reduce thefts locally.
While vehicle thefts declined, and while break-and-enter offences fell from 135 to 103 (a decrease of nearly 24 per cent), other categories of property crime increased.
Thefts other than vehicle thefts rose from 944 to 1,092, an increase of approximately 16 per cent, while mischief offences increased 20 per cent from 230 to 276.
The report also showed increases in crimes against persons, which rose 12 per cent from 416 to 467, and assaults, which increased 17 per cent from 193 to 226.
One of the more pronounced changes involved sexual offences, which increased from 25 in the third quarter of 2025 to 45 in the same period this year, an increase of 80 per cent.
Gee cautioned against assuming the increase in reported sexual offences necessarily means more sexual offences are occurring: “When we look at sex offences reporting, the question becomes, [are] there more sex offences? [Are] there more people comfortable coming forward?"
"I don't have an answer for that,” he acknowledged, but said, “I hope it's that we have more people comfortable coming forward, and it's not that the number's going up.”
The increase is not limited to the latest quarter.
Kingston Police's earlier semi-annual report showed 81 sexual offences recorded between January and June 2026, almost 69 per cent more than the 48 recorded during the same period in 2025.
Drug offences also rose sharply in the third quarter, increasing from 39 to 85, or approximately 118 per cent.
Gee attributed at least part of that increase to the work of the Special Services Division's Drug Unit, which has undertaken several projects targeting drug trafficking.
Police Chief Adam MacIntosh also referred to enforcement work in open-air drug activity when discussing the figures. However, he cautioned that individual quarterly comparisons can provide a misleading impression of overall crime trends.
MacIntosh said comparing one quarter with the same quarter in a previous year does not necessarily show whether a meaningful increase or decrease is occurring. Instead, he emphasized the importance of examining statistics over multiple years to better understand patterns and distinguish sustained trends from short-term fluctuations.
The police service is working with its corporate analyst to improve its statistical reporting and provide a clearer picture of crime trends, the chief said.
The latest report also shows that calls for service declined during the third quarter, from 12,877 in 2025 to 11,757 in 2026, a decrease of approximately 8.7 per cent.
However, figures from the semi-annual report show that calls for service increased during the first six months of 2026 compared with the same period the previous year.
Combining the two reporting periods, Kingston Police recorded 33,566 calls for service between January and September 2026, compared with 31,870 during the same nine months in 2025, an increase of approximately 5.3 per cent.
The semi-annual report includes a caution about the reliability of some historical comparisons.
It notes that the January 2025 cybersecurity incident affected Kingston Police's ability to accurately determine statistics for the period from November 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. As a result, some figures from the affected period may not accurately represent the incidents that occurred.
The quarterly report also cautions that statistics are a snapshot in time and can change as investigations continue and incidents are reclassified.
While the latest figures show substantial increases in some offence categories and declines in others, police leadership has indicated that more comprehensive, multi-year analysis is needed to provide a clearer understanding of crime trends in Kingston.
The Kingston Police Service Board meets regularly at 12 noon on the fourth Thursday of each month (unless stated otherwise in the agenda) in the William Hackett Boardroom at Kingston Police Headquarters, 705 Division Street.
By Michelle Dorey Forestell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Kingstonist