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REPORT RAPPORT |
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REPORT RAPPORT |
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DATE: |
18 April 2008 |
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TO: |
Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board |
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FROM: |
Director of Corporate Planning, Ottawa Police Service |
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SUBJECT: |
2007
CRIME AND POLICE STATISTICS |
RECOMMENDATION
The 2007 Activity Report
presented to the Police Services Board at its 24 March 2008 meeting and
distributed to the community as an insert to the Ottawa Citizen and Le Droit
newspapers, contains high-level crime and police data. As part of an ongoing performance
measurement initiative, a more detailed summary of preliminary crime and police
statistics is prepared annually for the community. The data presented in this report are extracted from the Ottawa
Police Service (OPS) Records Management System (RMS) and are still subject to
final year-end validation.
These crime and police statistics supplement other reporting on policing contained in the quarterly performance report presented to the Board, along with statistics forwarded to the City as part of the Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI). Additionally, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) publishes national, provincial and census metropolitan crime rate statistics each July. The annual Crime Rates in Canada report only includes rates for selected Criminal Code categories and offences, and only at the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) level for Ottawa.
DISCUSSION
The total number of Criminal Code incidents (excluding traffic) in the City[1] fell by 4 percent between 2006 and 2007 (48,214 vs. 46,081 respectively), and is below the five-year average of 48,613 incidents. When accounting for population growth, the crime rate for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences decreased by 6 percent from 2006.
Over 9,930 adults and youths were charged with various Criminal Code
offences (-1.0%), while another 2,630 youths were not charged, but streamed
into diversion programs under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The preliminary clearance rate for all Criminal
Code offences (excluding traffic) is 30.4 percent, unchanged from 2006,
although ongoing investigations may result in increases to this rate at final
validation.
Additional highlights are noted below and more details are contained in
the attached report, which will also be posted to the OPS website (www.ottawapolice.ca).
Violent Crime: After a
steady decline in crimes of violence over the past three years, the
number of violent crimes increased by 2 percent in 2007. Assaults accounted for much of this change
(+4.7% or 199 incidents) after declining 7 percent the previous year. At the same time, there were fewer robberies
(-12.7%), homicides victims (14), and attempted murders (-50%) in Ottawa during
2007.
Property Crime: Property
crimes in Ottawa (including offences such as break-ins, thefts, and frauds)
fell by 2 percent in 2007 and were well below the 5-year average. A reduction in the number of break-ins and
minor thefts (less than $5,000) had a large impact on the overall decline in
property-related crimes. Residential
and commercial break-ins continue to be an operational focus of the districts
and the resulting targeted management of habitual offenders, crime analysis,
plus individual and community based prevention through home security and
Neighbourhood Watch activities are contributing factors.
Other Criminal Code Offences:
Other Criminal Code Offences in Ottawa decreased by
just over two percent in 2007. The top
two offence types are Mischief to Property (9,079 incidents) and Bail
Violations (1,727). The circulation of
counterfeit currency is down 62.5 percent after rising 36 percent in 2006.
Youth Crime: The number
of youth accused (aged 12-17, both formally charged and dealt with by means other than the laying of a
charge) in Ottawa increased from 3,784 in 2006 to 3,939 in 2007 (+4.1%). Youth charged/otherwise in criminal offences
increased by 4 percent, with violent, property and other offences were up 7.6,
4.4, and 1.7 percent, respectively.
Under the joint Integrated Road Safety Plan with City partners, the 3E plan (education, enforcement, and engineering) is continuing. OPS traffic and patrol officers issued over 150,000 traffic tickets (Provincial Offence Notices) in 2007, the majority of which were for Speeding (29%), Failure to Surrender Insurance (12%), and Disobey Official Signs (11%). Other traffic offences under the Highway Traffic Act were up 7 percent in 2007 to 119,228, while other provincial/municipal traffic offences were at levels above the five-year average. The number of Criminal Code of Canada traffic offences (dangerous and/or impaired operation of a vehicle, failure to stop, and driving while prohibited) dealt with by the OPS remained steady.
Fatal collisions increased by 40 percent and resulted in an increase in fatalities from 22 in 2007 to 34 in 2007. Analysis of collision data has not yet pinpointed any one contributing factor, other than driver error. The number of serious injuries resulting from traffic collisions increased marginally (plus 8) in 2007.
After a 25 percent increase between 2002 and 2004, the volume of calls for service from the public remained relatively static until 2007, when Ottawa Police responded to 372,750 calls for service - a 3 percent increase from 2006. Although much of this increase is related to proactive traffic stops, Priority 1 calls (urgent and/or life-threatening situation) grew by 6.3 percent and represented 20 percent of all calls for police assistance.
The OPS strives to respond to Priority 1 Calls for Service (urgent, life threatening situations, or crime in progress) within 15 minutes, 90 percent of the time. In 2007, front-line police officers responded within 15 minutes 88.8 percent of the time, a 2 percent improvement from the previous year.
On average, Priority 1 response times have improved by nearly a minute since 2003. The average response time for Priority 1 calls in 2007 was 8 minutes, 48 seconds – 6 percent faster than 2006.
Police response to emergencies has continuously improved over the past three years as the impact of additional investments in front-line resources, together with the decline in false alarms, means that patrol officers are arriving more quickly to emergencies.
The City of Ottawa continues to be one of the safest large urban cities in Ontario and Canada. We will, of course, continue to diligently serve our citizens in a proactive and collaborative manner to ensure that Ottawa remains a very secure community to live, work and visit.
In 2008, the OPS will continue to deliver targeted crime management initiatives. Over the course of the year, the Board will continue to receive quarterly updates on OPS performance. As well, the Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI) report presented to the Board annually offers the Board and the public indicators and data with which to gauge Ottawa Police performance against a provincial median.
Finally, the OPS will continue to serve on the OMBI Police Expert Panel, the national Police Information and Statistics (POLIS) Committee, Ottawa Vital Signs project, and other venues that contribute to the ongoing discussion and improvement in the quality of life for residents and police performance measures.
Randy Mar
Director of Corporate Planning
Vern White
Chief of Police
Attach. (1)
This document contains information that reports on activities related
to the Ottawa Police Business Plan.
[1] Ottawa crime data are extracted from the Ottawa Police RMS. Due to continual updating of the system as new information is inputted, some minor variations will be seen between publication dates. Crime rate data for the OPS is based on annual municipal population estimates prepared by the City’s Development Services Department rather than inter-census estimates from Statistics Canada.
