MB. No. 1 in crime victims
Province leads nation in per capita rate, StatsCan survey shows
By CHRIS KITCHING, Winnipeg Sun
Last Updated: September 29, 2010
Manitoba has more victims of self-reported crime — from physical and sexual assaults to burglaries and vandalism — per capita than any other jurisdiction in Canada, according to a new study.
Released Tuesday, the Statistics Canada survey, which studied victimization in eight types of crimes in 2009,
found only one-third of incidents were reported to police.
Aboriginals were twice as likely to be a victim of violence.
The fact Manitoba has the highest victimization rate didn’t come as a surprise to some because the province consistently has one of the highest per capita crime rates.
“Crime rates have always been higher in Western Canada,” said Rick Linden, a criminologist at the University of Manitoba.
Statistics Canada compiled the numbers based on a general social survey of 19,500 people in Canada’s 10 provinces.
Manitoba scored above the national average and ranked first in most categories.
Manitoba’s leading violent crime victimization rate, analyzing data on physical and sexual assaults and robberies, was 175 victims per 1,000 people.
Saskatchewan ranked second at 159. The national average was 118.
At 376, Manitoba’s rate of household crime victimization (break-ins, vehicle and parts theft, theft of household property and vandalism) ranked first, eclipsing the national average of 237.
Manitoba ranked fifth and tied the average in personal property theft (108), finishing behind B.C. (125), Saskatchewan (123), Alberta (116) and Ontario (114).
Data for Canadian cities was mostly incomplete.
Theft of personal property, including money and clothing, accounted for more than one-third of all incidents.
One of the most troubling findings is most Canadians don’t bother to notify police when they’re a victim of these types of crimes.
Of the 27% of respondents who were victimized, only 31% called police, down from 34% in 2004, the last survey year.
“The main factor is (people) thought it was too minor to bother,” Linden said.
Others choose to keep things such as an assault a private matter, while some hold the belief police may not be able to help them, Linden said.
These kinds of beliefs couldn’t be more wrong, said Winnipeg police spokeswoman Const. Natalie Aitken.
Reporting so-called minor crimes helps police to identify patterns or spikes in specific crimes, allowing police to devote the appropriate resources to catch the culprits, Aitken said.
“One incident might be the piece to solving a bigger puzzle,” she said.
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I thought we were behind Saskatchewan in 2009? Oh well, I guess at least we are #1 at something. This is the main reason I would never vote for Judy W-L in my life. She is a lightweight when it comes to violent crime. If Judy Alphabet is elected mayor, we can expect Winnipeg to be #1 in most crime categories for years to come....