Windsor violent crime rate lower than previous yearly averages

A 10-hour standoff with Windsor police has brought forward some discussions and concerns about the safety of Windsor.

The Windsor Police Service puts out a yearly breakdown of the various crime violations that take place in the city. The crime clock is available on the WPS website.

The crime clock breaks violations into four categories:

• Violations against the person which accounts for assault, sexual assault, homicide, robberies and other offences.
• Violations against property which include theft, breaking and entering, arson and others.
• Other criminal code violations that includes firearms offences, prostitution and others.
• Other offences which include drug offences, traffic violations and other federal and provincial charges.

Windsor police will be releasing their 2019 statistics during a Windsor Police Services Board meeting Feb. 27.

In 2010, there were 2,801 violations against people across the city – roughly one every three hours. In 2018 that number lowered to 2,454 – putting it closer to one crime every 3.5 hours.

According to City Protect, a web app by Motorola that tracks police incidents available on the Windsor police website, in the first 38 days of 2020 there have been 81 violent incidents. This amounts to a violent incident occurring roughly every 11 and a half hours during this time.

According to Sgt. Steve Betteridge of Windsor police there are a few categories that can be accidentally misleading as certain violations are folded in together.

“Homicide and manslaughter are directly from the Criminal Code,” Sgt. Betteridge said. “Violence causing death would be probably a few criminal code violations together just for simplicity. Criminal negligence causing death [and] infanticide could fall into violence causing death.”

Based on the most recent data from Statistics Canada, the number of actual incidents has been shifting up and down yearly but overall has seen a decrease from the start of the last decade. However after an almost 23 per cent drop from 2015 to 2016 the rate has gone up roughly 13 per cent from 2016 to 2018. Overall, from the start to the end of the decade saw an almost 22 per cent decrease in violent offences.

However the report did recognize some factors which can influence the number of crimes reported by police.

“First, an incident must come to the attention of police,” the report stated. “The latest cycle of the General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety … indicated that about one-third (31%) of crimes are reported to police”

The second issue of reporting numbers can stem from “available resources or departmental priorities, policies and procedures” which can vary between precincts.

Lastly, the report points to social and economic factors which can influence reporting rates such as aging demographics, changes in technology and economic conditions among others.

If the trend from the first 38 days of the year continues, Windsor’s crime rate will have dropped nearly 72 per cent.