Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jul 2005
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2005 Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Norma Greenaway, with files from Natalie Alcoba, CanWest News Service

NATIONAL CRIME RATE DOWN, STATSCAN SAYS

Winnipeg's Murder Rate Highest In Canada

OTTAWA - Canada's crime rate dipped by 1% last year, Statistics 
Canada reported yesterday, despite recording an increase in the 
country's murder rate.

The agency said the decrease in the national crime rate was driven 
largely by a 5% decrease in Ontario's rate, stemming mostly from 
significant decreases in reported crime in the large metropolitan 
areas of Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and St. Catharines-Niagara.

The statistics, based on reports from police forces across the 
country, confirm a trend -- with the exception of an increase in 2003 
- -- of declining crime rates since 1991. The crime rate in 2004 was 
12% lower than a decade earlier, StatsCan said.

"It's fairly cheery news," said Dr. Robert Gordon, director of Simon 
Fraser University's School of Criminology.

"The statistics indicate that the efforts to prevent crime are having 
an impact," he said, pointing to both police and community 
initiatives as turning the tide on crime.

The agency said a total of 300,000 violent crimes were reported in 
2004, the majority of which were common assault. The rate, down two 
percentage points from last year, was 10% lower than a decade ago, 
but 24% higher than 20 years ago.

By contrast, the national murder rate climbed 12% to a total of 622 
homicides after hitting a 36-year low in 2003. Still, the rate of 1.9 
murders for every 100,000 population was 5% lower than it was 10 years earlier.

Winnipeg recorded the highest homicide rate among the country's 
largest urban centres.

The Manitoba capital registered well above other larger metropolitan 
centres like Vancouver and Toronto, with a rate of 4.9 murders per 
100,000 people.

"It's not something we like to think about," said Sergeant Jim 
Thissen, of Winnipeg's homicide unit, noting that the city has 
consistently recorded among the highest per-capita homicide rates in 
Canada for the last decade, although most of those crimes involve 
individuals who knew the victims. "It's not anything that is 
trumpeted here, or becomes a big issue," Sgt. Thissen said.

Dr. Gordon cautioned anyone from reading too much into the national 
homicide rate increase, suggesting that those figures should be 
looked at over a longer period of time. Murder numbers also tend to 
be small, he said, so any fluctuation, however slight, can translate 
into an abrupt hike or spike.

Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec accounted for most of the murder 
rate increase. Winnipeg's homicide rate was nearly two times the rate 
in Vancouver, that had 2.6 murders per 100,000. Toronto's rate was 
1.8, while Quebec City and Ottawa reported the lowest.

Among smaller centres, Regina, Abbotsford, B.C., and Saskatoon 
recorded the highest rates.

The rate of robberies with firearms continued to decline, as it did 
for property crimes, vehicle thefts and counterfeiting.

The rate of violent crime among youth, those aged 12 to 17, also fell 
off, dropping two per cent. There was a 30-per-cent decline in the 
youth homicide rate and a two-per-cent decrease in the robbery rate.

By contrast, drug incidents were on the upswing last year, rising 11% 
after declining seven per cent in 2003. Cannabis possession incidents 
climbed 15%, cocaine-related incidents increased 17% and the number 
of grow operation incidents in 2004 was 8,000, more than double the 
3,400 incidents reported a decade earlier.
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