Jail escapes, breaches, related offences high in Sask., StatsCan says

Saskatchewan leads all provinces when it comes to a category of offences that includes jail escapes and breaches, Statistics Canada says.

On Thursday, StatsCan released a report on offences against the administration of justice, which includes things such as escaping custody, failure to attend court, prisoners being unlawfully at large, breachesof probation and failure to comply with conditions.

Saskatchewan's overall rate in 2014 was 2,041 per 100,000 population.That isthehighest of all provinces and almost twice the Canadianrate of 1,053. Saskatchewan also had the highest overall crime rate of all provinces.

The report notes that Saskatchewan had 88 people escapefrom custody last yearmore than Alberta (51) and Manitoba (14) combined.

"Saskatchewan reported the largest proportion of offences against the administration of justice relative to other police-reported crimes, with almost one-fifth (19 per cent) of all reported incidents falling into this category," the report said.

"Meanwhile, in Prince Edward Island and British Columbia, less than 1 out of 18 police-reported incidents of crime (5 per cent) constituted an offence against the administration of justice."

The report says different provinces handle administration of justice offences differently, and police them differently as well, which might account for some of the variation between regions.