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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Rising violence plagues city

Robberies, assaults increasing: report

By: Kevin Rollason

Posted: 12/2/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Winnipeg continues to be a violent city with rising rates of robberies and assaults, according to the annual report released Wednesday by the Winnipeg Police Service.

Robberies went up by 30 per cent in 2009, to a total of 2,125 compared to 2008, while assaults jumped 11 per cent to 6,176 during the same time period.

To serve and protect

OTHER highlights of the 2009 annual Winnipeg Police Service report:

-- Domestic disturbance calls were the No. 1 events reported to police with 17,019. The second-highest was checking the well-being of a person at 7,862.

-- The No. 1 action initiated by police was pulling a motorist over at 19,724.

-- High-profile investigations included Project Divide, which resulted in arrests of Hells Angels and Zig Zag Crew gang members, and Project Rollback, where 37 people were charged with odometer rollbacks and staged collisions.

-- An increase in traditional traffic enforcement saw a 140 per cent increase in speeding tickets issued, 133 per cent for running red lights and stop signs, and 22 per cent in driving without a licence.

-- Tickets issued because of mobile photo radar vehicles plunged by 44 per cent to 66,383, while tickets issued by fixed photo cameras at intersections dropped by six per cent to 9,664 for going through a red light and 10 per cent for speeding through an intersection.

-- There were 14 per cent more motorists, to 526, charged with impaired driving.

-- There were 13 fatalities caused by 11 collisions in 2009, down from 15 fatalities in 14 collisions the year before.

-- Police responded to 1,611 false residential burglar alarms and 582 false holdup alarms in businesses.

You can read the full report at www.winnipeg.ca/police.

Robberies rose highest, at 54 per cent, in the service's District 3 area -- which includes the North End -- but the crime went up from nine to 39 per cent in other areas of the city.

With assaults, District 3 once again led the way with a 15 per cent increase, while the smallest increase, at two per cent, was seen in District 6 -- which includes everything south of the Assiniboine River and west of the Red River.

But as for the overall jump of 14 per cent in the crimes against persons category, Winnipeg police Staff Sgt. Andy Golebioski said they are analyzing the numbers further because of changes in reporting categories for Criminal Code offences made last year by Statistics Canada.

Golebioski said one of the statistics collected, other crimes against persons, now includes offences that used to be listed in the other crimes category, including criminal harassment, uttering threats, kidnapping and extortion.

"That might account for part of the rise," the officer said. "At face value, we have somewhat of an increase this year, but we'll be analyzing it."

But Golebioski said police will also be looking deeper into the categories that didn't change.

Golebioski said crimes against property, which saw an overall drop of 13 per cent, is a success story, but more so for the continued Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy, which is in that category and is leading the push to drop the numbers.

The strategy includes a closer watch and curfew checks on repeat auto-theft offenders.

The police report shows a 34 per cent drop in the number of vehicle thefts and attempts.

Golebioski said the number also continues a trend that began when the strategy was implemented and has seen a total drop of more than 70 per cent, or 9,000 fewer vehicle thefts and attempts since 2004.

Prostitution arrests dropped by 44 per cent, to 103, but Golebioski said that was only because several vice officers were diverted to long-term investigations, including the month-long investigation into an alleged bawdy house in the Wolseley area and the arrest of 30 johns over a 90-day period in the summer and fall.

"It's anticipated for 2010 these numbers will go up."

Craig Ross, director of community services with Mount Carmel Clinic, which runs Sage House, an outreach and health resource centre for sex-trade workers, said he was hoping the drop was good news. "We certainly prefer more supportive approaches to simple enforcement," Ross said.

"Certain segments of the force have worked especially hard in the area of safety for our clientele (including the issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women), so that's another shift that we welcome."

University of Manitoba criminologist Rick Linden said coupled with the crime severity index statistics released earlier this year by Statistics Canada, Winnipeg still has a ways to go to reduce crime and violence.

"When you look at the crime severity index, Winnipeg is the third-highest in the country and robbery would be a main reason because it is weighted heavily in the index," Linden said.

"Winnipeg's numbers are far higher than they should be. The city has to do more with the province and the federal government. They have to do it like they do auto theft suppression, with a comprehensive crime reduction strategy."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 2, 2010 B1

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