Annual report provides snapshot of policing in Waterloo Region last year

Waterloo Regional Police released their annual report which provides a snapshot look at crime in the area as well as how the service operates.

“This report represents and highlights a small part of the work our members do each and every day to keep the residents of Waterloo Region safe and well,” chief Mark Crowell said in a prologue to the report.

The 2022 report shows that police responded to well over 300,000 calls last year although those are not always criminal in nature.

“Last year, our members responded to more than 339667 calls for service, investigating complex crimes, providing comfort and calm to those in need, and forging last relationships and partnerships within the community,” Crowell explained.

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The major crimes unit was kept busy in 2022 as the report noted there were eight homicides and five attempted murders across the region last year.

There were also 25 shootings in the area with 19 of those coming in Kitchener while the region’s two other large cities saw two apiece and the last two occurred in Wellesley and Woolwich.

The opioid crisis also continues to afflict the area as police responded to 1,350 overdose calls in 2022, with 81 people losing their lives due to drug overdoses.

Police were able to take 401 kilos of drugs and related paraphanalia off the streets with the drugs having a street value of over $5.24 million, according to the report.

The report also highlights another issue in the region as there were 6,196 domestic incidents reported, with 1,024 of those coming from repeat callers.

Police laid 3,835 domestic violence charges last year, which shows the problem is not going away anything soon.

There has also been a lot of talk lately about erroneous 911 calls, with that number jumping 19 per cent last year in Waterloo Region.

The report says there eight error calls to 911 every hour with one occurring on average, every eight minutes.

With 67,284 so-called pocket dials in 2022, that represents the largest segment of calls that were answered by the service’s communications centre.

The centre also answered 52,245 calls from people who were in need of help from paramedics or about a fire.