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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

City councillor seeks end to 'epidemic' of stabbings

By: Jen Skerritt

Posted: 05/29/2012 1:00 AM

WINNIPEG is faced with an "epidemic" of stabbings, according to one councillor who wants the city to find a way to reduce the violent incidents.

Coun. Harvey Smith (Daniel McIntyre) said Monday it seems someone is stabbed every day in Winnipeg, and he's heard many victims don't want to co-operate with police.

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Smith said stabbings are more prevalent than shootings and he wants to see Winnipeg find a way to deal with the problem.

"It's an epidemic and we're just sitting back and saying, 'So what?' " Smith said following council's protection and community services meeting. "I think we should tackle the problem and have the facts so we know what to do about it."

The most recent incident happened early Sunday morning in the 500 block of Strathcona Street. Three males were rushed to hospital with stab wounds after an altercation with another man.

Police searched the area and arrested a 20-year-old suspect.

Brandon Aaron Canard faces several charges, including assault with a weapon and breach of probation. He is being held in custody.

City council's protection and community services committee approved a motion calling on the Winnipeg Police Service to examine three years' worth of stabbing data to find out how many have been reported, how many have been solved and the number of victims who refuse to co-operate with a police investigation.

Protection committee chairwoman Coun. Paula Havixbeck (Charleswood-Tuxedo) said residents do not feel safer, even though the city has hired more police officers. Havixbeck said it seems Winnipeg used to focus more on crime-prevention efforts than it does now, and she wants to see data that show how many police officers are on duty at any given time and what they're doing.

She said Winnipeg tends to see more crime as the weather warms up and it's important officials find out what's happening.

"The numbers speak for themselves; every weekend, every evening almost we hear of a stabbing, and people want to feel safe in their city," Havixbeck said.

Winnipeg police patrol Sgt. Monica Stothers declined to comment on whether there has been a rise in stabbings. Stothers said police need to collect statistics on the information to ensure they do not incite public fear.

"The perception may be inaccurate. To get a fair picture of what's going on in the city, we have to collect statistics," she said.

Winnipeg Police Service CrimeStat publicly reports the location of break-ins, shootings, homicides, robberies and auto thefts across the city, but does not post information about stabbings.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 29, 2012 B4