Violent Crime Rates Up Police Stats Show

A suspect aims his car at a cop and the officer is forced to shoot.

Two brothers are hit by gunfire as they’re out riding their bikes.

It all happened in Toronto in the last week.

And you can’t blame those in the worst hit neighbourhoods for wondering just how bad things are going to get.

The numbers from the cops’ own annual report about incidents in the city show violent crime is up from past years. But you don’t need a stat sheet to know that. Just look at your daily headlines.

“In the last year I’ve heard the most gunshots I’ve heard in my life,” complains Regent Park resident Colleen Rogers. “It is going up and we have to do something about it.”

There were 79 homicides all last year, 52 at the point of a gun, culminating in the Jane Creba shooting on Boxing Day. Compare that to just four years earlier, when the number was a still too high 61.

Sex assaults are up, too. Cops attended more than 2,700 of them last year. In 2001, there were just 2,600-plus.

Still, it may be more of a statistical anomaly than a sign of the times. Criminologists suggests you ask yourself if you’ve actually witnessed a homicide, a shooting or a gun battle or simply heard about one.

They claim in most cases the answer will be the latter.

“That’s an indication of how still uncommon it is,” points out Professor Scot Wortley of the U. of T.

“It doesn’t mean there are not tragic events or that we should not be concerned and take note but there is no reason to panic or stay inside or move to other cities. Toronto is a very safe city to live in.”

The number of shootings are actually lower so far this year than at the same time in 2005. But with 12 in the last week, the gunmen are playing a terrible game of catch-up.

Experts contend it will be years before we know if the rise in gun fire in 2005 is a blip or a trend.

But residents like Colleen believe what she sees, not what the numbers say. “I see it with my own eyes. I hear it with my own ears, no matter what the statistics say.”


Here’s a list of how bad the problems were last year compared to 2004:

Violent Crime: up 4.7% overall

Homicides: 79 in 2005, up 23.4%

Sexual Assaults: 2,723 in 2005, over 200 more than in 2004.

Non-sexual assaults: Up by 3.7%

Robberies: up 5.7%, but bank heists down by 13%

 

Overall number of incidents:

2002: 35,186
2003:  34,592
2004:  32,948
2005: 34,496

 

Property Crime: down 3.3% overall

Break and enter (homes): down 45.2%
Break and enter (apartments): up 40.4%.

Stolen cars: down slightly. There were 10,169 vehicles reported taken in 2005 compared to10,248 in 2004, down 0.77%

Homicide Comparison

2001: 61
2002: 62
2003: 67
2004: 64
2005: 79

Sex Assaults

2001:  2692
2002: 2731
2003: 2600
2004: 2512
2005:  2,723

Non-Sex Assaults

2001: 28,719
2002: 27,219
2003: 25,829
2004: 24,423
2005: 25,337

Robberies

2001: 4,938
2002: 4,581
2003: 5,462
2004: 5,339
2005: 5,645

 

Break & Enter (Houses)

2001: 6,572
2002: 6,912
2003: 5,919
2004: 5,985
2005: 3,278

Break & Enter (Apts.)

2001: 3,482
2002: 3,051
2003: 3,693
2004: 4,281
2005: 6,011

Break & Enter (Business)

2001: 6,063
2002: 5,717
2003: 6,813
2004: 6,861
2005: 5,744

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