Ottawa Saw An Increase In Crime According To Police Report & Vehicle Theft Is Up
The numbers aren't looking good.
Ottawa Police Service vehicle.
The latest stats for crime in Ottawa just came in. Those numbers indicate that crime in the city increased by 8% last year, according to the Ottawa Police Service's 2021 annual report, which was released on Thursday.
Overall, response requests for Ottawa Police spiked 7% last year, seeing almost 357,000 incidents where officers were requested. That's about 24,000 more calls from 2020.
"Together with the community, we are rebuilding public trust, continuing to address systemic racism and violence against women, promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion, increasing our outreach efforts to ensure greater diversity among candidates during hiring processes, and contributing to our communities through neighbourhood policing,” said the Ottawa Police Service Interim Chief, Steve Bell, in the press release.
Crime, including violent crime, was on the rise last year
Crime, excluding traffic reports, went up by 8% in the capital last year. The police service said it saw over 36,000 crime reports falling under the Criminal Code of Canada. And the severity of those crimes also increased by 4%, with the city's crime severity index at 50 points.
Violent crime was on the rise too. It went up by 7%, which the service said was "driven by assaults, sexual violations, and threats." Roughly 80% of 15 homicide reports were resolved last year, according to police.
And in terms of gun-related violence, Ottawa saw 82 shooting incidents and Ottawa Police seized 80 guns that were connected to crimes.
\u201cOttawa Police Service issues its 2021 Annual Report https://t.co/5WjWKhaSqX #ottnews \n\nLe Service de police d\u2019Ottawa publie son Rapport annuel 2021 https://t.co/MZ3oRAtsdP #Ottnouvelles\u201d— Ottawa Police (@Ottawa Police) 1655983762
Vehicle theft sees an uptick in 2021 and doubles this year
The city is also seeing an increase in vehicle theft. In May, the police service said that stolen vehicle reports had doubled this year compared to the same time frame in 2021. Those increases are also reflected in the 2021 annual report, which showed that property theft in Ottawa went up by 5% last year.
For other incidents, Ottawa Police detailed the following in their report:
- Naloxone was administered by officers 85 times to help save lives last year.
- To address community concerns around road safety, OPS officers issued over 40,000 tickets and 690 Part III charges for stunt driving.