Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ottawa, what next?

Canada needs a nationally coordinated public safety response

While the occupation of Wellington Street and the immediate side streets in Ottawa is now essentially at an end, there is much work yet to be done.

The immediate area around Parliament is now a restricted zone enclosed by concrete barriers and steel fencing.

While the barriers and heightened police presence are necessary and will remain the norm in the short term to ensure the occupiers don’t return and again become entrenched, the current status quo is not sustainable and is not something we want to see in any Canadian city.

It would be naïve to think that because the occupiers have been removed the sentiments that sparked the movement have been extinguished.

We have in Canada an extremely fractured society with a minor but substantial segment that feels unrepresented and not listened too. This minority has manifested itself not only in Ottawa but also in the form of border blockades in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

Although the current unrest started under the banner of the so called Freedom Convoy and Covid19 related restrictions that applied to truckers involved in cross border commerce, it quickly expanded to draw in other segments with all manner of grievances against all levels of government.

The initial demands of the Freedom Convoy that called for the overthrow of Canada’s democratically elected government left little room for politicians to meet with and negotiate with the protesters-turned-occupiers. The Liberals essentially resorted to ignoring the protesters and even name calling. The opposition took a much different approach by initially identifying with the protest and coming very close to endorsing it. Both approaches were politically motivated and not helpful in terms of addressing the issue at hand or ending the protest/occupation.

I’m not going to delve into the politics of solving what is a very difficult and complex issue. Rather I will address from a policing perspective what further steps need to be taken.

The Police Response

The initial response by Ottawa Police will become the subject of much discussion and analysis as the reviews and inquiries that have been called for get underway. Not being privy to what intelligence information and resources were available to Ottawa Police at the outset, no attempt will be made here to assess responsibility for what followed in Ottawa.

What the Police Need

Legal Clarity

Police are in the unenviable position of being mandated with maintaining the delicate balance between law and order and anarchy. The public, politicians and the media, all have high expectations in terms of police responding to protests appropriately. Police executives are very mindful that a failure to maintain the balance between the right to protest under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and blatant lawlessness as demonstrated in Ottawa will result in push back from all sides.

The question that needs to be clarified is the line between what is a lawful protest and what is an unlawful assembly.

At present there is no clear definition of the point at which a protest becomes an unlawful assembly. Equally problematic from a police perspective is that the definition that is applied is not a legal definition but rather a political definition. In other words it changes from situation to situation depending on the views or position of the government, and in some cases, who the protesters are.

In a situation like the one in Ottawa there is general agreement that a major flaw in the police response was the failure to act in a timely manner.

If, for example, there were a clear legal definition which stipulated that protests cannot last longer than a specific period of time and that vehicles or other implements or devices cannot be used to block roadways as part of a protest, police would be in a much better position to deal with protests and to ensure that they did not turn into entrenched occupation.

Emergency Legislation

The Provinces and the Federal government need to enact appropriate legislation that allows police the power in an emergency situation to swiftly deal with a broad range of emergency situations — illegal protests, blockades, illegal occupations — in a timely manner without having to invoke the Federal Emergencies Act.

Resources and Staffing

There needs to be a national police emergency response capability to quickly and efficiently deal with emergency situations such as the recent occupation in Ottawa, and the blocking of border crossings, highways, railways, and other vital infrastructure.

In Canada, most major municipal, Provincial police agencies and the RCMP all have emergency response and crowd control capabilities. Although these are well trained and equipped, there are differences in the approaches that each take in terms of tactics and strategies. In addition, the command structures while similar are not identical. As well, the ability to move municipal, provincial and federal police personnel into other jurisdictions is fragmented because of jurisdictional issues.

There needs to be establishment of a national public safety umbrella organization that oversees the equipping, training, and command and control structure of all the various Public Safety Units across Canada and funded Federally.

Governments at all levels in Canada need to pass the required legislation and put in place the required Memorandums of Understanding so that in emergency situations the various Public Safety Units from across Canada can be quickly brought together and seamlessly deployed.

Winnipeg Free Press characterization of citizens as vigilantes grossly unfair

The Winnipeg Free Press has taken the position that action by citizens to stop the thieves stealing liquor form Liquor Marts, by making citizen arrests, amounts to vigilantism.

 

Quotes from the Editorial in the October 30, 2019 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press, entitled, Liquor store theft demands complex, costly solutions, stated,

“A second dangerous development is that some citizens have taken the law into their own hands — literally — and tackled and subdued thieves until police arrive.”

“But when it seems that criminals can offend without consequence, some people feel the state has reneged on its end of the deal, and a few frustrated citizens will turn to vigilantism.”

 

An article in the October 31st. 2019 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press an article, Provinces team up against liquor theft, written by Katie May stated,

“Here in Winnipeg, police recently warned residents against vigilante justice as local Liquor Marts continue to log between 10 and 20 thefts daily.”

 

What is vigilantism and vigilante justice?

The word ‘vigilante’ has Spanish origins.  It means, to watch or guard.  In other words, to be vigilant.  The word became common in English usage during the 19th century and referred to groups or individuals that attempted to summarily suppress or punish crime outside of established legal boundaries.

In today’s terms, vigilantes are individuals who operate without legal authority and are in fact breaking the law.  Vigilante justice is the act of ‘enforcing’ laws without authority to do so and without regard to due process and the rule of law — again, an illegal activity.

That raises the question, what are citizens in Canada allowed to do and what authority are they granted in terms of intervening when they witness a crime being committed?

Citizen powers of arrest are dealt with under Section 494 of the Criminal Code of Canada:

  • 494 (1) Any one may arrest without warrant:
    • (a)a person whom he finds committing an indictable offence; or
    • (b)a person who, on reasonable grounds, he believes
      • (i) has committed a criminal offence; and
      • (ii)is escaping from and freshly pursued by persons who have lawful authority to arrest that person.
    • (2) The owner or a person in lawful possession of property, or a person authorized by the owner or by a person in lawful possession of property, may arrest a person without a warrant if they find them committing a criminal offence on or in relation to that property; and
      • (a)they make the arrest at that time; or
      • (b)they make the arrest within a reasonable time after the offence is committed and they believe on reasonable grounds that it is not feasible in the circumstances for a peace officer to make the arrest.
    • (3) Any one other than a peace officer who arrests a person without warrant shall forthwith deliver the person to a peace officer.

(4) For greater certainty, a person who is authorized to make an arrest under this section is a person who is authorized by law to do so for the purposes of section 25.

The reference to Section 25 of the Criminal Code is also of importance as it authorizes the use of force by citizens when making a citizen’s arrest:

 

Protection of persons acting under authority

  • 25 (1) Everyone who is required or authorized by law to do anything in the administration or enforcement of the law
    • (a)as a private person,
    • (b)as a peace officer or public officer,
    • (c)in aid of a peace officer or public officer, or
    • (d)by virtue of his office,

is, if he acts on reasonable grounds, justified in doing what he is required or authorized to do and in using as much force as is necessary for that purpose.

In layman’s words, here is what these two sections of the Criminal Code mean:

— A citizen who sees an indictable offence being committed (theft, for example, is an indictable offence) has the legal authority to make a citizen arrest.  The important thing is that the citizen must see the actual commission of the offence.  A citizen could not, for example, arrest a suspect whom he recognizes from a video as having committed an offence in the past (police, however, do have the authority to arrest a suspect in that instance).

— If a citizen is acting lawfully and making a citizen arrest, he/she may use force to do so.  The force used must be reasonable in terms of the circumstance.

— Once a citizen makes an arrest there is an obligation to turn the arrested person over to police ‘forthwith’.  In the case of Liquor store thefts that would means there is an obligation to contact police as soon as practicable after such an arrest is made so that police can take custody of the suspect and process the suspect through the criminal justice system.

Citizens, acting within the law and arresting thieves at Liquor Marts are not vigilantes.  They are exemplary citizens who take citizenship seriously.  They should be commended not denigrated.

The circumstance such as the number of suspects, their attitude and whether you are alone with a group of people, and your age and capabilities are determining factors in terms of whether you should get involved when you see an offence being committed.

That brings me to the second point in the above-mentioned mention Free Press editorial:

“The nature of liquor store larceny sparks controversy because it appears the thieves are stealing with impunity.  A defining characteristic of a country such as Canada is that when crimes are committed against people and property, good citizens agree to let the state handle it and criminals get busted.”

That in a nutshell is precisely what has plagued policing for at least half a century if not longer.  What the editorial is referencing is what is referred to as the ‘professional model of policing’, which was based on three tenets: random patrols, rapid response to calls for service, and reactive criminal investigation.

Under this model the role of citizens is reduced to reporting crime, after the fact.  There is no cohesion between citizens and the police and no sense of working together toward a common cause or goal.  It is more like a contractual financial agreement; citizens pay taxes and in return receive services.  That may be an acceptable model for refuse collection but not for policing.

It was this model which resulted in alienation between the police and the public and removed the public from the crime prevention equation that led many community groups from the 1970’s and onward to demand some form of community policing; in essence, a return to the model of policing envisioned by Sir Robert Peel.

Peel’s Principles of Policing were introduced in 1829 at a time when policing in England was moving from a watchman model where citizens took turns performing the watchman/policing  function at the community level to a system where policing was moving to hiring peace officers to perform the policing function on a full time basis.   At the time Peel and others were worried that the hiring of full-time peace officers could possibly lead to alienation between the public and the police.

Peel’s 7th Principle (see below) which has become the mantra of community policing advocates addresses the issue of maintaining the link between the community and the police:

Principle Seven

To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen, in the interests of community welfare and existence.  For a complete listing of Peel’s principles and a commentary on each click( here )

The section in the Canadian Criminal Code that grants citizens the authority to arrest can be traced back to Peel’s 7th Principle.  If the public are to be involved in assisting police in the interests of community welfare and existence, they need legislated authority that empowers them to do so in order to make their actions legal and fit into the framework of the rule of law.

The Winnipeg Free Press in their October 30th Editorial  suggests that a defining characteristic for a country such as Canada is that good citizens agree to let the state handle criminal activity and that citizens will mind their own business.  If that is true, then community policing is dead, because community policing envisioned citizens and the police working together to combat crime.

The way to resolve criminal issues is direct and meaningful interaction between the police and the community, where both parties work to support each other in pursuit of a common goal.  That goal in Peel’s words is the absence of crime.   We need to live up to the tradition of ‘the police are the public and the public are the police’.

 

 

First Past the Post versus Proportional Representation in the 2019 Manitoba Election

Following the 2019 Federal election there is a lot of discussion on social media about ‘first past the post’ (FPP) versus ‘proportional representation” (PR) and whether our electoral system in Canada is a fair one.

A previous post outlined how the two approaches would have impacted the recent Federal election.

A look at the recent election in Manitoba show that the outcome here would also have been quite dramatically different under a PR versus FPP system as well.

2019 Manitoba Election

Party % of popular vote First past the post Proportional representation
Conservative 47.02 38 27
NDP 31.38 18 18
Liberal 14.48 4 8
Green 6.43 0 4
Other 1 0 0

 

The Conservative seat count would have been reduced to 26 from 38.  The NDP would have held their own, and the Liberals and the Green Party would have seen their seat count increased form 4 to 8 and 0 to 4 respectively.  In other words, Manitoba would have a minority Conservative government that could be brought down at any time if the other three parties had the will. Under such a scenario you might even see a NDP, Liberal, Green coalition or an NDP minority government propped up by the Liberal and the Green Party.

 

The results in the 2017 BC election would have looked like this:

Party % of popular vote First past the post Proportional representation
Liberal 40.36 42 35
NDP 40.28 41 35
Green 16.84 3 15
Other 2.52 1 2

BC currently has a minority government and that would not have changed under a PR system but the Green Party would have gained 12 seats.

 

In the recent Alberta election won by the United Conservatives they would have won a majority under either system but both the NDP and the Alberta Party would have seen an increase from 24 to 28 and from 0 to 8 seats respectively.

Party % of popular vote First past the post Proportional representation
United Conservative 54.88 63 48
NDP 32.67 24 28
Alberta Party 9.08 0 8
Other (total of 11) 3.37 0 3

 

The bottom line is this:  if Canada were to changed to a PR from a FPP electoral system the larger established political parties stand to lose seats while the smaller parties who currently have no standing in terms of seats would see an increase.

The result might well be a increase in the number of minority governments at the provincial level.

The Lavalin Affair: The letter that was never written

Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould

 

As was the case with many Canadians, last Wednesday I couldn’t get any work done.  I sat glued to my 70 inch television watching the riveting testimony of former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould as she testified before the House of Commons Justice Committee.  I was so convinced that her testimony would be ground breaking that I set my PVR to record both the testimony and the following commentary by pundits on both channels that were broadcasting the historic event.

And the former Attorney General did not disappoint.  Many had speculated that in her testimony Wilson-Raybould would  ‘nibble around the edges’ and perhaps create a weak ‘he said-she said’ scenario.

Wrong, there was no nibbling around the edges.  Wilson-Raybould got right to the heart of the matter.

Less than 10 seconds into her opening statement, Wilson-Raybould hit us with this statement:

“For a period of approximately four months, between September and December of 2018, I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role as the attorney general of Canada, in an inappropriate effort to secure a deferred prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin.”

Of note is that she did not say in her role as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, rather, just in her role as the Attorney General.

This made it very clear that she had a firm grasp of her postion and the difference between her dual roles.  On one hand she was the Minister of Justice, a member of the cabinet;  on the other, she was the Attorney General, two very separate and distinct roles.  Two very distinct roles that dictated two very different types of communication and interaction that cabinet colleagues, the Privy Council office, the PMO and the Prime Minister himself could have with her.  As the minister of Justice they could communicate with her politically, however in her role as the Attorney General the communication needed to be on a legal basis as outlined by law and convention.

It would appear that this distinction was lost on the Prime Minister,  the Clerk of the Privy Council and political staffers in the PMO.  Not only did they blur the lines, they obliterated them.

There is one point that I’ve thought a lot about since I watched Ms Wilson-Raybould’s testimony and listened to endless commentary and the opinions expressed in the subsequent media coverage.

Much has been made of the fact that the former attorney general would not take into consideration the so called ‘additional information’ being pushed forward by SNC-Lavalin through the Prime Minister and other political entities.

The fact is, Ms Wilson-Raybould did provide the opportunity for SNC-Lavalin to advance their legal argument in an appropriate manner.

During her September 19th 2018 meeting with the Prime Minster, also attended by the Clerk of the Privy Council, she made the following offer:

I offered that if SNC were to send — I offered to the clerk, if SNC were to send me a letter expressing their concerns, their public interest arguments, it would be permissible, and I would appropriately forward it directly to the director of public prosecutions.

This offer was never followed up on by SNC-Lavalin.

The question is, why not? The answer is:  the former attorney general made an offer to SNC-Lavalin to mount a legal argument.

The reason SNC-Lavalin did not respond is that in all likelihood they understood that they did not have a strong legal argument to make, in favour of a deferred prosecution agreement.

SNC-Lavalin through their pressure on government wanted the government to arrange a  political solution to a legal problem.

The Prime Minister, the PMO and the Clerk of the Privy Council  through their “sustained effort”  to “politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion” attempted to deliver exactly what SNC-Lavalin wanted: a political solution for a legal problem.

But for the resolve, courage and integrity displayed by Jody Wilson-Raybould, they might have succeeded.

The Great Canadian Carbon Tax

 

Is it a carbon tax or perhaps the Great Canadian Carbon Scam?

 

Governments of all stripes have repeatedly demonstrated  throughout history that they are not stellar stewards of our money.

 

Every dollar that flows to government in the form of taxation (any form of taxation)  is potentially a dollar wasted.  Every dollar we keep out of the hands of government is potentially a dollar saved.

 

Enter the Trudeau Liberal carbon tax.  The Trudeau Liberals started out touting the carbon tax as being revenue neutral.  The carbon tax would be flowing back to the people who paid it.

The current iteration of the plan calls for 90% of the tax going back to the people who paid it.  And of that 90% only 70 % of taxpayers will get back at least what the tax cost them, which means the other 30 % will in fact  be  ‘taxed” by this so-called revenue neutral taxing scheme.

 

The question that arises is, apart from the inequity of the carbon tax  how is taxing Peter and then paying Paul (who is actually Peter)  90% of what you took from him going to contribute to a reduction of emissions?

 

That is a question that has not been adequately answered. The second question is who gets the remaining 10% and how ill that contribute to cutting emissions?  At present it is designated to go the schools and hospital and other such entities that are not able to pass the tax on to consumers.

 

Lastly there is another question that has not even been asked.  What will be the cost of creating the and running the bureaucracy that will administer this new tax?

Will there be a tax or surcharge to pay for the cost of collecting and redistributing the tax back to some but not all Canadian?  Or is that what the money that the 30% who will not be getting back what the tax cost them will be used for.

Lastly, is this perhaps just another pre-election bauble or ‘shiny thing’  the Liberals are throwing out there to distract voters from the other issues facing this country in the hope that the electorate is gullible enough to fall for it?

 

 

Going to Pot

marijuana3WEB___Gallery

With marijuana legalization just around the corner (October 17th 2018) Canadian police organizations are scrambling to come up with pot consumption policies for their officers.

Some have already announced policies that are very restrictive:

Calgary  – total abstinence

Toronto – 28 days prior to shift

RCMP – 28 days prior to shift

Other cities like Vancouver,Ottawa and Montreal will allow officers to consume marijuana prior to reporting for duty as long as they are fit for duty when the report, much like the existing alcohol consumption policy.

Several others ( Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg ) have yet to announce their policy.

What do you think the Winnipeg Police policy on marijuana consumption by police officers should look like?

 


 

 

 

ISIS Fighters Returning to Canada

Tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree

 

I recall vividly driving down Kenaston Boulevard and seeing yellow ribbons tied around the trees welcoming our troops home from over seas.  I remember thinking at the time that it was a great gesture to demonstrate support for Canadian foreign policy and a way to thank our soldiers who were the ‘tip of the spear’ of that foreign policy.

Now we find ourselves in a situation where we have another wave of ‘soldiers’ returning home to Canada.

There is a big difference though.  These soldiers are ISIS foreign fighters, terrorists.   These returnees are for the most part Canadian citizens who not only reject our Canadian values but took it several steps further and went overseas and joined the other side, actively fighting against the West in support of ISIS.

Now that the battle is turning these Canadian ISIS fighters are returning to their safe haven in Canada.

And what is the response by the Federal government in Canada?  While other countries like the United States, Britain and France are making concerted efforts to ensure that citizens from their countries that left and went to Syria to join ISIS do not return, Canada is essentially rolling out the welcome mat.

Ralph Goodale, speaking with his holier-than-thou attitude, tells us that  Canada does not engage in “death squads” implying that Canada is in some way morally superior to other countries.  The concern of course is that these ISIS foreign fighters, having been indoctrinated and trained by ISIS in Syria, and having ‘tasted blood’ so to speak will return to their countries of origin and continue to wage their war.

Not to worry, says our defense minister.  The foreign fighters returning to Canada will be monitored for any terrorist activities.

Our Liberal Government seems to think that Canada can reintegrate jihadists.  Our track record of rehabilitation and reintegration of ordinary criminals is dubious at best, and now we are going to apply that same philosophy to individuals who believe in a higher cause, who live by Sharia Law which in their minds supersedes Canadian Law.  Good luck with that.

Where does that leave Canada?  The Canadian  government claims that our vetting measures are adequate to root out potential immigrants and refugees with terrorist leanings.  The fact that so many Canadian citizens became ISIS fighter effectively shoots down that myth.

However, now that we have fighters returning from Syria who are self-declared terrorists who may have committed unthinkable atrocities we are simply going to allow them to return to Canada to live among us like nothing happened.

Well, no, they are going to be carefully monitored by the RCMP and CSIS.  That should giver us comfort right?   Wrong, for the most part Islamic terrorists who committed attacks in Canada were known to police and CSIS prior to the attack but they had neither the resources or the inclination to deal with them effectively.  We keep hearing that under Canadian law it was not possible to arrest and charge them.  What does that tell us about Canadian law?  If the law does not allow those charged to protect Canadian citizens to protect us the law needs to be changed.

In a long-term sense what needs to happen is a change in government.  The Liberals sunny ways are not helpful in dealing with the cloudy days we are experiencing.  The election is still a long way off but there are things that Canadian citizens can do in the interim.

Here are a few suggestions:

1 Make yourself familiar with the Terrorism and Violent Extremism Awareness Guide.

2 If you see anything that you feel may be terrorism-related contact the RCMP National Security Information Line  or CSIS by phone at 613-993-9620 or by email.

3 Contact your MP directly.  Depending on the nature of your contact you might wish to copy the Minister in charge of the portfolio your issue relates to and or the Prime Minister.    The following links provide you with the mailing address, phone number and email address for all MP’s.   phone and address      email.

 

On the bright side (not), remember that as ISIS fighters are streaming back into Canada you do not need to go out and tie any yellow ribbons to trees to welcome them back, the Canadian government is doing that on your behalf.

 

 

Should Portage and Main be reopened to pedestrian traffic

 

Portage and main in the winter time is a cold, windy not to mention slippery place to try and walk.

 

Songs have been written about it.

It has been the venue for public rallies.

Originally an ox cart crossing in the late 1800’s  Portage and Main has evolved into Winnipeg’s most iconic intersection.

My first memories of Portage and Main date back to the early 1970’s  when I was a new recruit with the Winnipeg Police Force (as it was then called) .

Police recruits attended classes in the morning.  The classroom was located on the 5th floor of the Public Safety Building.  Then in the afternoon recruits were assigned to walk beats in the downtown area and of course do traffic duty.

Some of the most dreaded traffic points were Portage and Donald, Mayfair and Main and of course the biggy:  Portage and Main.

Portage and Donald was not all that problematic except for the fact that is was the route used by the then Deputy Chief J. C. Webster to make his way home and the poor Constable doing traffic duty there needed not only to try and keep traffic flowing smoothly but also had to keep a sharp eye out for the Deputy’s car.  The Deputy liked to be saluted and in that era hell had no fury like a Deputy not saluted.

Then of course there was Mayfair and Main.  That intersection was a two-person job.  One recruit would be out in the middle of the street actually directing traffic, and the second would manually operate the traffic signal box changing the traffic control signals from green to amber to red based on traffic flow.  What made this intersection dicey was that the Superintendent in charge of Training and Personnel (Charles S Tully) and the Sergeant Instructor (Thomas Arfield) both rode the bus home along Main Street and woe be to the Constables who failed to facilitate an orderly flow of traffic especially the traffic that was south bound on Main street.

Then there was Portage and Main.  The intersection from hell in terms of traffic and traffic duty.  The constable assigned the task had to juggle three lanes of traffic approaching Main street from Portage Avenue east bound, and Main Street both north and south bound as well as a lesser flow of traffic from East Portage Avenue heading west.   Controlling those wanting to turn left, right or proceed straight through was bad enough but then add pedestrians to the mix and it was a nightmare.  Due to the cold conditions in the winter, pedestrians invariably kept crossing the street well after the don’t walk signal came on and because of the congestion in the area, drivers kept entering the intersection when the traffic light turned amber and well beyond.  The result was gridlock and of course many close calls including the occasional accident involving cars and pedestrians.  With all the honking of horns,  and pedestrians shouting at drivers it was like being in New York.

The closing of Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic in 1978 was a major step forward in terms of pedestrian safety and traffic flow in downtown Winnipeg.

Now our Mayor who was knee high to a grasshopper when the change was made wants to stage a nostalgic ‘back to the future’ and reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians.  Using the words of an actor from a movie some years back: ‘big mistake, huge’.

The City has grown substantially since 1978 (by approximately 150,000) and traffic flow which was a problem then is an even greater issue now.   The re-opening or Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic would be a great plan if your end objective was to bog down the center of Winnipeg into a total rush hour gridlock and at the same time endanger the lives of pedestrians.

So if that is your objective, Mayor Bowman, the re-opening of Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic will be a booming success.  Have at it.

Oh, and by the way, how about a few hitching posts – they used to have those along Main Street as well. 

Winnipeg Crime Statistics (2015) by Electoral Ward

The statistics presented in this post are for the 8 crime types tracked by Winnipeg Police Crimestat for the dates  January 1st. 2015 and December 31 2015.

 

The numbers in parenthesis are the number of crimes reported to police  (2015/2014)

 

Old Kildonan  -7%   (384/414)

Point Douglas  -5%  (1009/1059)

St. Charles  -3%    (199/205)

Mynarski   0%   (1056/1061)

Transcona  +2%   (305/298)

St. Boniface  +11%  490/440)

Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry  +8%  (661/611)

Charleswood/Tuxedo  +12%  (217/194)

St. Vital  +20%  (437/364)

St. James/Brooklands/Weston    +21%  (663/548)

Elmwood/East Kildonan  +22%  (610/500)

River Heights/Fort Garry  +23%  (513/418)

Daniel McIntyre  +23%   (1060/862)

North Kildonan  +24%   (299/242)

South Winnipeg/St. Norbert  +31%  (403/307)

 

Observations

Except for the St. Charles ward, which has very little crime to begin with, the three wards that saw decreases or remained the same are all in the north end of the city (District 3).

The Daniel McIntyre ward edged out Mynarski as the ward with the most reported crimes.

The south-west, and south-east portions of the city showed major increases in property related crime.

Welcome to Golf In My Kingdom

I’ve been writing the Policing Politics and Public Policy blog since 2009.  This fall I decided to start-up a new blog that deals with a totally different subject mater, golf.

I will be adding a number of posts throughout the winter that cover with a variety of golf related topics that I hope will be of interest to golfers in Winnipeg and elsewhere.

If you have an interest in golf, have a look.  The new blog is titled Golf in My Kingdom