Crime rates up across the city

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This article was published 29/07/2019 (2275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Crime is on the rise in Winnipeg.

According to a news release, the Winnipeg Police Service’s 2018 annual statistical report, which was released on July 22, emphasizes that the city “continues to face serious issues when it comes to crime, as shown by some of the statistics that have been compiled.”

Across the city, property crimes increased by 19 per cent over the previous year, which represents a 44 per cent increase over the five-year average, officials say. While violent crimes did not increase, they are 18 per cent over the five-year average. Total calls for service also increased 5.5 per cent over 2018, which shows a rise of 11.2 per cent over the five-year average.

“I believe the reason behind the increase is still in large part due to the growing use of methamphetamine in our community,” Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth wrote in the introduction to the report.

“We are adapting to meet this challenge and in 2018 we created a centralized Drug Enforcement Unit to proactively investigate the illicit drug trade. Addiction issues, property crimes and acts of violence are often a result of drug subculture.”

That said, drug crimes as a whole were down 13 per cent from 2017, which demonstrates a drop of 12 per cent over the five-year average. And significantly, recreational marijuana became legally available in Canada in October 2018.

On a local level, according to the report, there were 385 violent crimes in the St. Boniface area in 2018, which is a 28.3 per cent increase compared to 2017, and shows a rise of 27.4 per cent over the five-year average. In the St. Vital area, there were 342 violent crimes, which is a 0.6 per cent decrease compared to 2017, and shows a rise of 9.1 per cent over the five-year average.

Regarding property crimes, there were 2,893 in the St. Boniface area in 2018, which is a 55.7 per cent increase compared to 2017, and shows a rise of 92.9 per cent over the five-year average. There were 2,185 property crimes in the St. Vital area in 2018, which is a 5.5 per cent increase compared to 2017, and shows a rise of 28.5 per cent over the five-year average.

In terms of total crimes in southeast Winnipeg, there were 3,639 in the St. Boniface area in 2018, which is a 49.6 per cent increase compared to 2017, and shows a rise of 78.2 per cent over the five-year average. In the St. Vital area, there were 2,760 total crimes in 2018, which is a four per cent increase compared to 2017, and shows a rise of 23.9 per cent over the five-year average.