Homicide stats in Canadian Cities

[vid]

Way more centralized than us:

Kernel density distribution of violent crime incidents and population at risk, Thunder Bay, 2001

Source (includes Edmonton and Halifax)

I live on the diagonal red line, on the border between the dark blue and light blue. The lighter area south of that is a wealthier neighbourhood. It has a lot of multi-unit conversions and this is including population at risk (that's what the random blue dots are); our crime map shows very low crime in the area south of downtown, compared to north of it.

Both downtowns have middle/upper middle class areas right beside them, while being generally poor. The north end has a lot of low income housing developments, and those have pockets of high crime.

Green is "nice" neighbourhoods near downtown. In the first map, downtown is blue and the red pockets are low income, high density neighbourhoods. In the second map, red denotes downtown/Simpson Street, my neighbourhood. (There is a social housing project in this end, top left near Redwood and Limbrick, but it isn't as bad as the north end's, even though it is the most dense of them all.)

The black Xs mark homicides (since those aren't mapped), and it goes back to 2005. I might have missed some but you get a general idea of how concentrated it is in my neighbourhood. (In the second map, I live under that cluster of S icons, below the X.)




It looks like the whole city is dangerous when you look at these maps, but the vast majority of these crimes (assaults and sexual assaults in the past 6 months are the only crimes plotted on both) happen inside people's homes.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Here's a similar map of crime distribution in Edmonton

Crime is very prevalent downtown, and north of downtown

[MonkeyRonin]

Since everyone else is posting crime maps of their city...



http://www.thestar.com/staticcontent/793448

[Darkoshvilli]

This one is from 2001

[MolsonExport]

^wow. Wassup in Verdun, Chinatown, Maisonneuve, and Montreal North? Les Bo Gars and the Crackdown Posse?

[RTD]

Alberta father charged with killing his sons

EDMONTON - While their father faces double-homicide charges, relatives of the two young boys found dead in an Edmonton townhouse are rallying around their mother.

"It's really hard for everybody," said the boys' aunt from her home in northern Alberta. "It's such a tragedy."

Police have charged a 31-year-old man with two counts of first-degree murder after they found the bodies of the boys, aged 3 and 6, in a townhouse on Sunday night.

QMI Agency has learned that the suspect is the boys' father.

Autopsies were performed on the children, but further tests are needed to determine the exact cause of their deaths.

The accused killer, who cannot be named, is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Wednesday.

Source: http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/cana.../16638221.html

[BretttheRiderFan]

So I guess that makes 26 in Edmonton for the year

[Darkoshvilli]

37 so far in Montreal.

[JuelzJones]

60 for Toronto

[Denscity]

Vancouver homicides: 9
Metro Vancouver: 40

[Blitz]

Windsor closes in on murder-free year

The Toronto Star
Dec. 30, 2010

Windsor, Ont. — A city synonymous with economic turmoil and high unemployment — is on the verge of ending 2010 without a single murder. It’s a remarkable feat for a city with a population of more than 215,000 people and that borders Detroit, which was once dubbed “murder city.” Windsor’s mayor, Eddie Francis, says the murder-free year is just a sign of the city’s rise. “The fact that we’re going to have, hopefully, zero murders I think just allows us to really reinforce how safe we are as a community to the rest of the province, the rest of the country and to the rest of the world,” said Francis. Windsor’s reputation, said Francis, has been marred by old, unfair perceptions.

“Obviously we were battered by the economic recession because of our concentration of automotive industry and heavy manufacturing here,” he said. “But over the past several years we’ve used that opportunity to reposition this city.” According to Statistics Canada, 5,700 new jobs opened up in the Windsor-Sarnia region last year. Over the same period the unemployment rate fell slightly from 10 per cent to 9.4 per cent. It’s still, however, the highest unemployment rate in Canada.

But through the hard times the people of Windsor have been resilient, Francis said. They’ve stuck together, persevered and made Windsor “a very different city, very different region, very different community than it was two or three years ago.” In “32 blissful years” with the Windsor police force, deputy chief Jerome Brannagan has never seen anything like it. In fact, the city’s last murder-less year was 1963.

Windsor has averaged five murders a year for the past decade. According to the most recent numbers from the FBI, Detroit had 146 murders between January and June of 2010. That was down 28 per cent from last year. Detroit police won’t release their homicide total until the end of January. Toronto has had 60 homicides this year.

“The thing that most fail to take into consideration is the great people that live in this very strong and very giving community of Windsor-Essex County,” Brannagan said proudly. “They’re good, decent people,” he said. “Just because you lose your job, it doesn’t mean you’re going to become a drug dealer.”
In part, Brannagan credits the police force’s focus on preventing gangs from Toronto and the United States from creeping into the downtrodden border city.
He also credits luck. “You cannot live in with close to a quarter of a million people and have situations not arise where the opportunity for homicide doesn’t raise its ugly head,” he said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/...rder-free-year

[Darkoshvilli]

That is very impressive for Windsor. Of course, they could have 10 next year for all we know. How many do you guys usually get a year?

Edit: Nvm, its in the article.

[vid]

We had a 0 murder year then had 6 in the year following and 5 so far this year.

Murders are usually between people who know each other so you can't really say that it means Windsor is "safe"; they were just lucky that none of the attacks resulted in a death.

[Wooster]

Looks like Calgary will end with 14 this year, the city's lowest tally since 2003. Spatially dispersed rather than concentrated in any particular area, but more in the northern half of the city than south.

[PoscStudent]

Newfoundland and Labrador currently have 4 people in court on murder charges, which is a record. 1 of the people in court is charged with a murder that happened a few years ago. I think the three other people are charged with murders that happened this year and there was also a body found months ago but charges haven't been laid.

So unless I'm forgetting something NL had 4 murders.

[Blitz]

Originally Posted by vid

We had a 0 murder year then had 6 in the year following and 5 so far this year.

Murders are usually between people who know each other so you can't really say that it means Windsor is "safe"; they were just lucky that none of the attacks resulted in a death.

This is true, however Windsor's crime rate continues to be below the national average despite its location and jobless rate. Some people claim that high unemployment leads to higher crime rates but it's not true.

[someone123]

You have to be a little careful about crime density maps because they don't correct for population densities (daytime or nighttime). Downtown areas in particular are often just busier as opposed to more crime-ridden.

[vid]

Originally Posted by Blitz

This is true, however Windsor's crime rate continues to be below the national average despite its location and jobless rate. Some people claim that high unemployment leads to higher crime rates but it's not true.

That's something that I have tried to explain many times to the "we don't need social services, just get more jobs" people.

Where are we going to get the jobs, anyway? Is there a Jobmart I have not heard of?

Today only, buy 250 well paying jobs with no educational or trades skills needed at Jobmart, and get another fifty FREE!! Mayors love it!!

Our unemployment is the lowest in Ontario, our crime rate is the highest. Both quality and quantity of jobs play a role in crime rates but that isn't the only factor.

[Darkoshvilli]

We've had our share of attempted murders lately(Ive kinda struggled with this term, just cause a guy stabs somebody doesn't mean he necessarily wants him dead) so were kinda fortunate to still be under 40 right now.

[vid]

They don't even use the term attempted murder here, at least in media releases. I can't think of anyone ever being charged with it.