Violent Crime in Winnipeg..
 

Well, after a particularly violent summer I thought it might be time to actually keep track of the frequency with which these events are occuring.

Here's a quick recap from the past few weeks.. :twoguns:

Man set on fire in Wolseley

By: Staff Writer | Winnipeg Free Press - Sept 22, 2009

WINNIPEG – A Wolseley resident was set on fire early this morning after he was confronted by a group of young men outside his home on Alloway Avenue.

The 32-year-old victim went outside to investigate noise at the rear of his one storey house just off Maryland Street around 4:30 a.m. He had flammable liquid thrown on him before being lit on fire.

The man was taken to Health Sciences Centre with first- and second-degree burns.

Neighbours woke up Tuesday to yellow police tape surrounding the green house and a squad car parked at the rear. Most had not heard any commotion, but had been canvassed in the early morning by officers seeking information.

One resident, who asked not to be identified said, "I know those people, they don’t bother anyone."

Police are continuing to investigate.


city.desk@freepress.mb.ca

Why? This thread brings ZERO value to the problem. It is troll-like and inflammatory. There are enough boards like this in Winnipeg where people like you can satisfy this need to post such crap. Why bring it here?

What happened... did OTL morph into Downtown Winnipeg?

No, we're just good friends..

Here's another one from the press..

Arrest made in death of alleged shoplifter

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 | 12:46 PM CT -
CBC News


Police allege Beardy was confronted by a store employee after she was caught trying to steal a can of luncheon meat worth $1.49 at a Sherbrook Street convenience store on Sept. 13. She was assaulted before she fled to a nearby residence, police said.

Officers were notified about the assault on Sept. 15, and Beardy died Sept. 18.

Beardy's mother, Louise Keno, told CBC News on Monday that her daughter was last seen at the Okay Groceries store just five days before being taken off life support on Friday.

Beardy, a mother of three, lapsed into a coma after being hit with a bat, Keno said.

Louise Keno is comforted by one of her daughters as she talks about the death of another daughter, Geraldine Beardy. (CBC)Police have not said how the woman was assaulted and whether a weapon was used.

CBC News spoke on Monday to the owner of Okay Groceries. He confirmed the attempted theft, but said he asked Beardy to leave and didn't know what happened to her after that.

Police did not say whether the unidentified 61-year old, who is facing charges of aggravated assault but has not yet been formally charged, is the store's owner.

The charge will not be manslaughter because Beardy's death, nearly a week after the alleged assault, has not been conclusively linked to the injuries that led to her passing, police said.

Keno said Beardy, who is from Garden Hill First Nation, was ill and needed to be in Winnipeg for medical treatment. She did not have a fixed address in the city but had been living there since June.

Her family is making funeral arrangements and hope to take Beardy's body back to Garden Hill this week.

The investigation into the death is being carried out by members of the homicide unit. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact investigators at 986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 786-TIPS (8477).

I started this thread because for a city our size I think it's pretty disgusting to have this level of violent crime.

I'm not sure anybody has ever really kept 'score' over just how frequently these sorts of things are happening in our city..

MY own modest proposal is let this thread run for 1 month. Let's see what kinds of things go down and then have the mods close it.

I think we might all be surprised at just how bad the situation really is.

In the same time period, i'll post articles relating to politicians and what they're are promising to do to rememdy the situation.

My hypothesis is we'll see another half dozen of these stories and hear zip from our elected officials about addressing these issues.

It should be an interesting experiment.

I'd have to agree with Rskylar and DowntownWPG in one respect, no number of fancy glass towers can likely fix this problem.

They said that? That's got to be the most idiotic statement I've read in awhile since the aforementioned 'fancy glass towers' aren't built to alleviate Winnipeg's crime problem.

I'm with you on this experiment though. But the only problem I have with it is there's no 'control', or counter-weight if you will. All urban areas have violent crime, and IMO, to list ours without any comparison does nothing but sensationalize it.

Honestly, what are we supposed to take away from this? Whats the end goal? I think the press is doing a bang-up job of promoting awareness. But I don't see anyone with solutions to the problem.

the police are trying their best as is the city the province and feds are where the system is failing and allowing for this to fest as bad as it is :S

Admittedly, my interest is more in the political response.

Also, I think it would be hard to compare violent crime in a city vs city kind of way.

It's not to say that violent crime is any better or worse in Winnipeg compared to say Edmonton or Vancouver..

But, I find it interesting with the frequency with which these types of stories are happening.

As a life long Winnipegger, I can't recall a time when we had so many high profile crimes being committed.


I also can't recall a time when shootings were as common. It seems to me at least, that in the 90's and times past stabbings and beatings were far more common than gun violence.

Nowadays, all we seem to hear about is shootings and often in very public spaces too.

I would like to comment on one story in particular, and perhaps it will resonate with many on this board.

Personally, i'd like to know what drove the shopkeep to bash in that lady's head over a $1.49 tin of canned meat.

Was she just the last straw in a long list of shoplifters who had been stealing from the store.

I'm sure lots of people are disgusted with the shopkeep's reaction, but can he really be blamed for his response?

Safeway, Costco, and Superstore et al. would never setup in any of these inner city neighbourhoods, and many of these same retailers have abandoned older stores that they once had in these places..

A small grocer like this provides an invaluable service to a marginalized neighbourhood.

Why do we as a community in terms of our policing leave this individual out to dry?

My own hunch is that the courts will try to make an example out of this guy and his brand of vigilante justice..

But really, what choice does the public have left?

vigilantism is just getting started in this city IMO.

The only way the North End is ever going to clean it's act up is if it starts with the citizens living there.

I live in Wolesley, and if enough of this crime kept happening, I think it would only be a matter of time before groups of citizens would start to patrol the streets and back lanes at night.

point douglas has eyes everywhere these days

The province will crack down. Only after a judge or high ranking political figure is hurt severely, or a spouse or child of the previously mentioned. It's sad, and unfortunate, but the hard reality of our time. Any incident in the North End, regardless of how heinous, is nothing more than a statistic. It will get press coverage for a day or seven, but in the end, it amounts to a single data point for a statistician.

I like hard justice, unfortunately the voting majority seems to prefer the solution of hugs, apple pies, and ankle bracelets for level 5 offenders.

winnipeg obvioulsy has work to do, but we should remember that our violent crime rate is 3-4 times lower than the best cities in the united states.

overwhelmingly, the attitude is that crime and violent crime are getting worse in winnipeg and canada in general, but that is incorrect....the media is really to blame for the hysteria.

violent crime in winnipeg is down almost 30% in the last decade.

1996: 1480 offences
2007: 1082 offences

all offences:

1996: 10 900 offences
2007: 9 644 offences


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...rime-2008.html

Not me. But I'm sure the thief simply fell when she was leaving. Accidents happen ALL the time.

I thought Manitoba members on this site generally deny anything negative about Winnipeg??? Violent crime...what violent crime???:rolleyes:

You're not going to keep a very accurate track of violent crime in the city if you only depend on media reports, especially media reports from newspapers and broadcast sources as opposed to police press releases (which still won't cover every crime). If you're just ticking them all off and not really doing anything to change the situation, then what exactly is the purpose of this thread?

And don't say "to tell people". You're reposting news articles from the media. They're telling people, you're just parroting. (And committing copyright infringement, a crime.)

we have it wayward but to be fare i feel safer now then i did as a kid in the 90's i remember how depressing it was and i must add this city is alot better off today then it was 1 years ago in many ways now we have the highest per cap of police in the country and are making huge strides to deal with it we don't hear alot about whats going on. are you aware of the programs the graphiti gallery has been running at the community levels for kids youth and adults in all forums of the arts teaming up with resdence asosiations community centers ect or what people in the communities are doing to change things by taking notice and careing enuff the issues we have take a long time to be dealt with

I'm waiting for the news report to confirm.

^^^^Now that is some funny shit