Violent crime spikes in southwest: Edmonton Police Commission report

EDMONTON – A new report shows violent crime has increased across Edmonton, but the southwest division has experienced a particularly large surge.

The number of violent crimes increased 52.9 per cent during the first half of this year compared to the same time period in 2014, according to the Edmonton Police Commission report.

The report suggests the spike was a result of an increase in assaults, which represents 75 per cent of the total number of violent crimes.

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Violent crime was up across the city, with the downtown division experiencing the second most significant increase at 16 per cent.

Police also missed their goal of responding to calls in seven minutes or less 80 per cent of the time. However, police only hit that mark 69 per cent of the time.

The situation was much worse in southwest where the goal was met 50 per cent of the time, which is the lowest rate since 2007 for that area.

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Edmonton police are now looking at changing their crime reduction models to include formal offender management and hot spot management components.

The report also states an undercover anti-drug trafficking standard operating procedure is being developed to deal with the amount of drugs in Edmonton, which the police commission believes is a root cause of violence in the city.