Violent Crime in Winnipeg..

[ScrappyPeg]

Originally Posted by vid

Yes. And we should be like Scandinavia and get that level down below 2%.

I understand some Scandinavian countries also have some of the highest suicide rates in the world.

[1ajs]

Stabbed man linked to anti-gang group

Home owned by aboriginal agency, fixed up by ex-gang members

Last Updated: Thursday, October 1, 2009 | 6:13 PM CT Comments12Recommend8

CBC News


Winnipeg police are probing whether this vacant home at 2158 Gallagher Avenue is linked to a homicide Wednesday. The victim has been linked to the anti-gang organization renovating the home. (CBC)A man stabbed to death in Winnipeg on Wednesday worked for a government-funded anti-gang group recently cited as a key part of a new provincial strategy against crime.
CBC News has learned the 34-year-old man, who has not been publicly identified, was an employee of Ogijita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin, a program that trains ex-street gang members to get jobs in the home renovations sector.
OPK program director Larry Morrissette confirmed the victim worked for the program, which is funded by the federal and provincial governments as well as charitable concerns like the United Way.
The developments come as Winnipeg police were seen Thursday shifting their homicide investigation from an outdoor area on Logan Avenue and Quelch Street — what was thought to be the crime scene Wednesday — to a home about a block away on Gallagher Street.
The police identification unit is also examining a knife that a CBC cameraman and reporter found next to a sidewalk on nearby Vine Street. It was in the grass, partly obscured and coated with what appeared to be blood.
After the discovery, police also taped off that area as part of the crime scene.
They said little about the killing Thursday, other than to declare the man's death a homicide, Winnipeg's 22nd of 2009.
Documents show the home at 2158 Gallagher Street, now taped off by police, is owned by the Dakota Ojibway First Nations Housing Authority.
The agency said Thursday the home is empty and being renovated by OPK, which was just named as a key piece of the Manitoba government's strategy to quell gang violence in the city. It's listed as one of four anti-gang resoures available to adults as part of Project Restore.
Agency homes in news lately

It's the second time in about a week a home owned by the aboriginal housing authority has made the news.
This home in the 800 block of Redwood was twice linked in September to police activity. (CBC)On Sept. 24, several police cruisers, including the tactical support team, and about a dozen uniformed officers investigating a shooting report were in the 800 block of Redwood Avenue between Arlington Street and Sinclair Street from about 3:30 a.m. until 8 a.m.
Traffic was rerouted away from the area as police could be heard calling into the Redwood Avenue house into which six suspects had retreated.
Police were at the scene for hours, telling people inside the residence to come out and blasting a siren.
Several neighbours said the house is known to have a connection to street gangs and there were teenagers hanging around the residence for several hours before that incident.
The suspects had just been involved in a confrontation with an area homeowner who said a member of the group had fired two shots from a handgun at him.
A few days before that, a 17-year-old boy who had been shot turned up at the same Redwood Avenue home looking for help. Police were called and the boy was taken to hospital for treatment.

[vid]

Originally Posted by ScrappyPeg

I understand some Scandinavian countries also have some of the highest suicide rates in the world.

So does Canada. The highest suicide rate in the world is in Pikangikum, Ontario at 200/100,000, and the territories and northern parts of the provinces have very high rates as well. It is related to the lack of sunlight, though in our case it is also due to poverty.

To give you an idea of what the rate in Pikangikum is like, more people commit suicide there on an annual basis than in Brandon. Pikangikum has a lower population than Beausejour.

[UrbanPlannerr]

Originally Posted by trueviking

40 years ago the homicide rate in winnipeg was 2.95/100 000....in 2008 it was 3.6/100 000.....not much difference.

barely a person more.. the stats the newspapers don't show...

[Winnipegger@Heart]

Originally Posted by trueviking

40 years ago the homicide rate in winnipeg was 2.95/100 000....in 2008 it was 3.6/100 000.....not much difference.

What is your source? It is intriguing, yet unbelievable...

Yes, your are a socialist btw...holding hands and singing kumbaya has done us no good.

A combination of tougher sentences, increased raids of suspected gang members, and vigilantism are the ingredients we need.

[1ajs]

wh its more then just the raids and aresting them there also needs to be preventive programs in place to get kids out of the cycle that they were born into

[Winnipegger@Heart]

I agree; prevention is imperative. The Feds need to cough up more money for community centres; get the kids off the streets, and mentored properly.

[vid]

And why didn't you mention that in the first place?

We have to get off of this "let crime happen, we'll punish them later" mentality.

[1ajs]

the amarica ns could sure take from that

[ScrappyPeg]

Originally Posted by vid

And why didn't you mention that in the first place?

We have to get off of this "let crime happen, we'll punish them later" mentality.

Is anyone really saying this? I think there needs to be a balance between dealing with criminals and their activities via the justice system and preventative measures that address causative factors.

As an example: just because little Johnny is aboriginal, born to a crack addicted mother and whose grandparents are residential school survivors - should he not be punished for his part in a home invasion where an elderly person is killed? When considering an appropriate punishment, should the justice system take into consideration his upbringing? His home environment? His heritage?

Are you saying criminals shouldn't be punished?

[vid]

No, I'm saying that if you don't take serious efforts to prevent crime, all the punishment in the world won't be able to control it. Criminals should be punished, and then rehabilitated whenever possible. You're not going to turn someone into a civil, productive member of society by treating them like shit.

[ScrappyPeg]

Originally Posted by vid

No, I'm saying that if you don't take serious efforts to prevent crime, all the punishment in the world won't be able to control it. Criminals should be punished, and then rehabilitated whenever possible. You're not going to turn someone into a civil, productive member of society by treating them like shit.

Your argument works both ways - while all the punishment in the world will not eradicate crime, the same is true of social programs.

There are more social programs available to people now than there were 40 years ago. Rehabilitation is available and not all criminals care to take part in it - and you occasionally read about them in the paper (sex offenders released into the community and considered a high risk to reoffend).

I still wonder why no one is advocating on behalf of Robert Pickton - that poor soul who must've had a tortured upbringing to do the things he did.

[vid]

I guess it's okay for us to murder someone who murdered forty times. There are some people who can't be rehabilitated, but there are also people for whom punishment results in no benefit to anyone, especially once that punishment ends. (And according to our laws, 99.9% of the time it must end.)

Social programmes will cut crime rates better than something that is only really affective after crime has already happened.

[ScrappyPeg]

Originally Posted by vid

I guess it's okay for us to murder someone who murdered forty times. There are some people who can't be rehabilitated, but there are also people for whom punishment results in no benefit to anyone, especially once that punishment ends. (And according to our laws, 99.9% of the time it must end.)

Social programmes will cut crime rates better than something that is only really affective after crime has already happened.

Last I heard, there was no capital punishment in Canada. I'm not advocating for that as a reasonable punishment.

I'm just glad I'm not the person who has to decide who can be rehabilitated and who deserves a more leniant approach. If the leniant approach is chosen, for whatever reason, and the person reoffends - that is a heavy bit of guilt to bear....

I guess this is a glass half empty vs glass half full debate. I want to know that the justice system is keeping dangerous offenders off of the streets. Rehabilitation will not work for all, you can't save all people from themselves. Does that mean I don't think rehabilitation should not be presented as an option? No. Put as many social programs out there as possible and give people as much opportunity to succeed as possible. Some will make it, others will not. There are plenty of social programs available to people - many just do not take part in them. Like I said, there are more social programs available to people now than there ever have been.

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by vid

I guess it's okay for us to murder someone who murdered forty times. There are some people who can't be rehabilitated, but there are also people for whom punishment results in no benefit to anyone, especially once that punishment ends. (And according to our laws, 99.9% of the time it must end.)

Social programmes will cut crime rates better than something that is only really affective after crime has already happened.

Canada has a soft approach when it comes to justice. Far too many people never see the inside of a jail for far too many crimes. Then when incarcerated they never serve their full sentence what with time off for good behaviour and auto-release and double time for time served etc...

You say that social programs will cut crime rates. We have literally dozens. How is that working for us now?

We need to think punishment/deterrence BEFORE we consider anything else. Rehab to your hearts content when inside. Keep increasing the jail sentences on each subsequent conviction.

Before arguing with me any further on this consider one thing: when in jail the bad guys cannot commit any further crimes. Compare that to treating the bad guy instead of jailing him. How much crime can bad guy commit while being "treated"?

[newflyer]

Rewarding the guilty
By: Staff Writer

9/10/2009 1:00 AM


LIBERAL senators are turning high principle into low farce by amending legislation that would put an end to a sentencing process that, in effect, rewards the guilty.
The legislation, already approved by the House of Commons and supported by attorneys general of all provinces, would eliminate the practice of awarding two days credit for every day served in jail by an accused prior to conviction. An accused person who served six months in jail prior to being convicted, for example, would have their sentence reduced by 12 months (two times six months). The legislation as passed by the House would require that credits be less generous -- doled out to convicted persons on a on a one-for-one basis.

Unelected Liberal senators, however, seek to amend the legislation passed by their elected colleagues so that credit is assigned on a 1.5-for-one basis and, at that, judges would be allowed to exercise discretion in granting credit. Why 1.5-to-one is a better ratio than one-for-one -- or three-for-one, for that matter -- is not explained and likely is inexplicable. Why a standard of 1.5-to-one would be set only to have it un-set by granting judges discretion also appears inexplicable -- neither fish nor fowl.

That judges should have discretion in sentencing is a principle worth defending -- judges for the most part should be able to make the punishment fit the crime. But in this matter, what is at issue is not whether a judge should decide whether a five-year sentence or a 10-year sentence is appropriate, it's whether the sentence should be reduced at a rate of one, or two months for every month of pre-sentence incarceration.

In the hypothetical terms outlined above -- six months incarceration prior to conviction -- what is at issue is whether a five-year sentence should be reduced to four years and six months, or four years. Defying the will of the House of Commons to preserve such a small slice of discretion is not high principle; it is farce and doubly so given that the Liberal senators have embraced a 1.5-to-one ratio, meaning that the difference between what has been approved and what is being changed amounts to weeks and days.

But why a one-to-one ratio and not two-to-one? For the simple reason that the benefit of two-to-one only applies to convicted persons. Any accused person who is found not guilty gets no consideration for time spent in custody. It is only the guilty that get this benefit. And it is because only the guilty stand to benefit that it is argued that it is in their interest to drag out court proceedings for as long as possible so as to lengthen pre-conviction incarceration and thus reduce post-conviction jail time.

The origins of the two-for-one practice are as hazy as the evidence that guilty persons drag out proceedings, but it is generally said that it became a standard in response to the fact that conditions in prisons where accused persons are held pre-trial are worse than prisons post-conviction.

In Manitoba, at least, steps are being taken to address that. If the Liberal senators are concerned about anything more than mischief they would turn their attention to addressing the treatment of presumed innocent persons in pre-trial jails, not in ensuring that the guilty get out early from prisons that are purported to be more comfy.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 9, 2009 A12

[Jets4Life]

It's about time ordinary citizens did something about crime in the city. Unfortunately, I guess it depends where you live in Winnipeg. I noticed that the Spence and Point Douglas community associations have made inroads in improving their neighborhoods.

I tried volunteering on two occasions with the WBDC (West Broadway Development Cooperative). I filled out an application, said I was free for a great deal of time and was open to doing many jobs. They told me they would get back to me within a day by email and phone.

That was 4 weeks ago. Nothing. I tried phoning and leaving a message, but it has went unreturned. They are completely ineffective. I used to live on Balmoral St and Broadway, but the gang/crack houses are so rampant that I am getting ready to move. If the WBDC doesn't care aboout the neighbourhood, and I am not aware of any other group of citizens that want to change the area for the better, I'll just move somewhere where the people actually care about the area.

[DowntownWpg]

Homicides by census metropolitan area, 2008. Statistics Canada, released Oct. 28/09:

500,000 and over population

City [number] (per capita)

1. Winnipeg [31] (4.07)
2. Edmonton [39] (3.44)
3. Calgary [34] (2.87)
4. Vancouver [54] (2.37)
5. Toronto [103] (1.86)
6. Montréal [48] (1.27)
7. Ottawa [11] (1.20)
8. Québec [8] (1.09)
9. Hamilton [6] (0.85)
10. Kitchener [4] (0.78)

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-.../10929-eng.pdf

[1ajs]

how many triple and doubles did we have last year?

[ILYR]

Originally Posted by DowntownWpg

Homicides by census metropolitan area, 2008. Statistics Canada, released Oct. 28/09:

500,000 and over population

City [number] (per capita)

1. Winnipeg [31] (4.07)
2. Edmonton [39] (3.44)
3. Calgary [34] (2.87)
4. Vancouver [54] (2.37)
5. Toronto [103] (1.86)
6. Montréal [48] (1.27)
7. Ottawa [11] (1.20)
8. Québec [8] (1.09)
9. Hamilton [6] (0.85)
10. Kitchener [4] (0.78)

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-.../10929-eng.pdf

Winnipeg and Manitoba have been at the top (or near to) for decades. We are obviously not doing a good enough job dealing with the underlining reason for the highest rate. Perhaps that is the problem, we still haven't figured out what the real underlining problem is. Regardless it is up to all Manitobans to help solve this problem.

On another note I noticed in the report that it had Winnipeg's CMA population at 761,166.