Elements in play to tackle ‘consistently too high’ violent crime rate: mayor

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This article was published 31/07/2023 (817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The violent crime rate is unacceptably high in Winnipeg and several efforts must continue to tackle it, the city’s mayor says.

“It’s not acceptable and I just refuse to accept that this is just the way it is, that our city will remain violent. We have to do all we can collectively to drive the crime numbers down, to make our community safer,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said Monday.

The crime severity index in Manitoba rose 14 per cent last year to reach 146.5, greatly exceeding a four per cent national increase to 78.1, according to Statistics Canada data released last week. The measure is based on crimes weighted to reflect their seriousness.

The StatCan data show Winnipeg’s crime severity index rose 20 per cent higher, to reach 136.1.

“The violent crime severity index is consistently too high in Manitoba and in Winnipeg. Almost on an annual basis, Winnipeg is at or near the top of that index. That’s why we are taking steps to drive that number down and make our community safer,” said Gillingham.

The mayor noted the provincial government recently announced details of a $10-million, two-year safety strategy for the downtown, which will add 24 police officers to patrol the area, 75 more closed-circuit television cameras, and a new community safety office.

Gillingham has also promised to add 24 new Transit security officers by the end of this year, and develop a community-wide safety plan in collaboration with other governments and agencies.

“It’s not a single-pronged approach to making our city safer, there’s several elements that are being worked on simultaneously,” he said.

Increased numbers of homicides, firearm offences and violent assaults affected the crime index for Winnipeg and Manitoba last year, with 88 homicides throughout the province. About 60 per cent of those slayings took place in Winnipeg.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.