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A distinction Winnipeg is thrilled to shed

Auto-theft capital may go to other city

By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 01/9/2009 7:19 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

MAYOR Sam Katz to Winnipegger: Start spreading the news.

City police and Manitoba Public Insurance statistics show Winnipeg’s car-theft rate for 2008 was the lowest in 16 years. That takes a big bite out of the city’s reputation as the car-theft capital of Canada — a distinction handed to Winnipeg 11 years in a row by Statistics Canada.

"I’m very happy to see we are getting very positive results," Katz said. "But I’m going to say we can do more."

Katz said the other trick now is getting Winnipeggers to accept the fact the city is slowly shedding its image as the worst place in Canada for car theft.

"I’m not too concerned about titles," Katz said. "I’m more concerned about what Winnipeggers and Manitobans are thinking than anyone else."

The mayor said it’s now up to the people who live here to spread the message to others, including to the national media, which has taken shots against Winnipeg.

"We have to talk more about the positive," Destination Winnipeg spokeswoman Lori Walder said. "Wi n n ipeggers re a l ly h ave to t a ke i nto ac c ou nt t he good things and stop listening to other people."

Besides declining car thefts, Walder said the city also boasts a stable housing market and a growing economy.

Police and MPI statistics released over the past week suggest the city is on the right path. Police statistics reflect all reported thefts, including unregistered vehicles, while MPI’s numbers only reflect insurance claims.

Police numbers show auto theft declined 45 per cent per cent last year from 2007 totals. MPI’s data shows 3,173 vehicles were stolen in Winnipeg last year — 2,303 fewer than 2007.

However, University of Manitoba criminologist Rick Linden, the chairman of the provincial autotheft reduction task force, cautioned that more has to be done.

Linden said it will take another year of enforcement to lower theft rates even more before it’s reflected in national statistics comparing Winnipeg to other cities.

"The problem is, we were so far ahead of everyone else," he said. "We have to drop an awful lot to get back into the mix of other cities."

But Linden said the number of attempted thefts, while lower, is still too high compared to other cities. It’s been Statistic Canada’s practice to blend actual and attempted thefts to compile comparative crime statistics, something that works to Winnipeg’s disadvantage. Attempted thefts in Winnipeg fell to 3,197 in 2008 from 6,063 in 2007.

Linden said the upshot is that by July, when StatsCan releases its numbers, Winnipeg will still be a contender for car-theft capital of Canada, but by then those numbers will be more than six months old.

However, Linden added overall crime should be down. "We’re going to look a lot better when the stats come out in July," he said.

Katz said the drawback to Winnipeg shedding its position of car-theft capital is that some other city, like Abbotsford, B.C., or Edmonton, will inherit it.

"And I tell you it doesn’t make me feel any better it’s some other city than us," he said.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

The proof

Manitoba’s 2008 auto-theft numbers are the lowest in 16 years.

Last year, 3,173 vehicles were stolen in Winnipeg, 2,303 fewer than 2007. Across the province, 4,465 vehicles were stolen, compared to 6,977 in 2007.

There are two main reasons for the drop:

Manitoba Public Insurance’s ignition-immobilizer program, which has thief-proofed 73 per cent of the most-at-risk vehicles, and the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy, which keeps close tabs on chronic teenage car thieves.

In the fall of 2004, the city was averaging 24 cars stolen a day. That number has dropped to less than 10.

The lower theft rates have resulted in a 3.6 per cent insurance rate reduction over the last three years for Manitoba drivers.

— Source: Manitoba Public Insurance

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