Winnipeg’s overall crime rate rose 10 per cent in 2019, led by increasing rates of violent crime and property crime — especially theft and fraud — according to the police’s latest crime stat report.
The Winnipeg police annual statistical report released Friday shows police responded to 10,878 calls for violent crime, and 51,483 calls for property crimes last year.
The calls drove the city’s violent crime rate up four per cent over 2018 numbers, and property crimes increased by just shy of 15 per cent over the previous year’s numbers, according to the report.
Winnipeg finished 2019 with 44 homicides, a record-setting number of slayings in the city, and exactly twice as many as the city saw in 2018.
Police chief Danny Smyth pointed to the spike in homicides as a driver in the rise in violent crime.
“The level of brazen crime we experienced is alarming,” he said, noting many of the homicides involved victims and suspects that were children.
“There’s some pretty heart-breaking, and unforgettable homicides that we experienced.”
He pointed to the death of 17-year-old Jaime Adao Jr. who was killed trying to protect his grandmother when a man broke into their home. The chief also spoke of three-year-old Hunter Haze Straight-Smith who was fatally stabbed while sleeping in his bed.
Four of last year’s homicides are still unsolved.
The stats show property crimes were up last year 48 per cent over the five-year-average, while violent crime was up 17 per cent over the same time frame.
There was also a 38 per cent increase in firearms offences.
Smyth said while Manitoba doesn’t experience the same number of shootings as other jurisdictions, officers are coming across guns more often.
“We are encountering firearms in the community pretty routinely now. I don’t think a week goes by where we don’t arrest somebody that’s in possession of a firearm.”
The report shows police investigated 22,070 reports of theft under $5,000 — a 24 per cent jump over 2018 numbers. Smyth said 30 per cent of thefts reported in 2019 were at liquor stores in the city.
Smyth said police worked with Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to stem the rising rate of robberies. He expects the numbers have gone down significantly this year since the stores increased security at front entrances and now require ID before anyone is allowed inside.
On the flip side, over a five-year average, drug crimes were down 42 per cent and traffic offences dropped 17 per cent, according to the report.
Smyth said the drop in traffic crime is likely tied to the fact officers from the traffic division had to be reassigned later in the year due, in part, to the significant spike in homicides and violent crime.
He said 14 of the city’s 44 homicides were recorded in the last quarter of 2019.
As for the drop in drug crime, Smyth said police have focused more on traffickers and suppliers rather than on laying charges for personal possession.
Smyth has publicly advocated for decriminalizing possession.
Smyth says the good news is that police have built stronger relationships with local organizations including the Bear Clan as well as Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries.
The chief said police are doing the best they can with the resources they have. He has always advocated for more funding directed at social services and addictions, he added.
“We are in the middle of experiencing upwards trends in crime — there’s no way of getting around that,” he said.
“But I think our response has been balanced and has been strategic.”
The province announced Friday that it is making available $160,000 from the Federal Proceeds of Crime Fund to support prevention programs such as community patrols and Crime Stoppers.
2020 homicide rate on pace with 2019
The report’s release comes as police continue to investigate Winnipeg’s latest homicide after a man was stabbed and killed near the city’s outskirts Thursday.
Police were called to the Petro-Canada station on Lagimodiere Boulevard and Fermor Avenue Thursday evening at about 5:30 p.m. and were still on scene Friday morning.
At a press conference Friday police identified the victim as Ryan Kelly Legary, 43
A police spokesperson said the victim had been involved in an altercation before he was killed, and investigators don’t believe he knew his attacker. No arrests have been made, the spokesperson said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 204-986-6508.
Smyth said the homicide, Winnipeg’s 23rd of 2020, puts the city is on pace with last year’s homicide rate.
Statistics Canada’s 2018 annual crime severity index, released last July, found Winnipeg’s crime index was up 10 per cent year-over-year in 2018, compared to a rate of 1.9 per cent across the country.
In 2017, the city’s crime severity index was 108.48. In 2018, that number jumped to 119.43.
Police were dispatched to over 231,000 events across the city in 2019, according to Friday’s report.
In all police say officers responded to 69,294 calls for crimes in 2019, a nearly 35 per cent increase over the five-year average.
–With files from The Canadian Press
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