MONTREAL – There was good news and bad news as Montreal police released its annual crime numbers for 2015.
The good news: overall crime is down 2.5 per cent in the city.
“We’re extremely happy with this year’s report and seeing criminality going down,” said Claude Bussière with Montreal Police.
The bad news: there were more serious crimes reported on the island.
There were 30 murders in 2015, up slightly from 2014 and attempted murders went up by 48 per cent.
So far, in 2016, there have been three homicides.
What’s the reason behind the spike?
“There were a number of major operations in terms of organized crime and street gangs,” said Bussière.
“It makes the head of those groups a target.”
These gang hits account for the majority of cases, according to Global’s legal analyst Philip Schneider.
“Settlement of accounts between rival groups are the majority of cases,” he said.
Reports of assault and sexual assault were also up.
“There’s an increase because more are being reported as opposed to more happening.”
Crime has been on the decline across the country in the past 10 years, a trend Montreal police are hoping will continue.