‘Severity of violent crime’ up 13 per cent in capital

Instances of violent offences levelled off, but ‘severity’ of cases jumped 13 per cent

SHAAMINI YOGARETNAM

Reported crime was up in Ottawa in 2016, but the rate of violent crime remained relatively the same, even after a near-record year of homicides, according to the 2016 Ottawa Police Service annual report.

The crime rate was up nearly six per cent from 2015, but the rate of violent crime, despite a year of atypical bloodshed in the city, was down almost one per cent. The rate of non-violent reported crime was up more than seven per cent.

The annual report “highlights how (OPS) addressed (its) three operational priorities — violence against women, guns and gangs, and traffic safety; and how (the service is) changing to better serve the residents of Ottawa,” said a report to the police board in advance of Monday’s monthly meeting. “It also reflects (the force’s) commitment to public accountability and transparency by providing indicators of police performance.”

Though the rate of violent crime was slightly down, the force said the “overall severity of violent crime” was up by 13 per cent, largely driven by “murder, assaults, sexual violations, and abduction offences.”

The service said its clearance rate — the rate at which cases are solved and charges are laid in investigations or closed without warranted charges — “remained constant in 2016 with 36 per cent of all cases cleared.”

The police board on Monday will also be asked to approve an $800,000 construction contract to Dolyn Developments Inc. to renovate the force’s existing fire range in their Professional Development Centre at Algonquin College.

The range was originally designed to train for “static shooting from set distances aimed downrange at targets placed in front of a bullet trap system.” After 18 years, “it requires life cycle maintenance and design upgrades to ensure officer safety and to meet mandated use of force training.”