CRIME HALTON SEES 30.5 PER CENT CRIME JUMP IN FIRST HALF OF YEAR DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Many things in Halton are returning to normal following the height of the pandemic. Unfortunately, _ cee crime. ‘his is the explanation Halton Police Chief Ste- phen Tanner provided fol- lowing a significant in- crease in criminal activity within the region during the first six months of 2022. oncerning statis- tics were discussed Curing arecent meeting of the Hal. ton Police Board. report presented to the board noted that be- tween January and June there were 7,081 criminal offences reported in Hal- oe this is 1,769 more inci- dents than were reported during the same period in 2021, and represents a crime rate increase of 30.5 per cent when regional population growth is taken into account. Violent crime offences cent from 968 incidents be- tween January and June 2021 to 1,343 incidents dur- ing thesame period i in 2022. cent from 3,373 inci- dents in 2021 to 4,728 inci- dents in 2022. Police also reported a lower case clearance rate — of 43.1 per cent — for the first six months of 2022, compared to 45.7 per cent during the same period in 2021. The report noted motor vehicle collisions are also on the rise, with 4,052 re- ported in 2022 compared to 2,373 during the same peri- od in 2021. This represents an in- Graham Paine/Metroland Halton Police Chief Stephen Tanner discussed the rise in crime during the recent police board meeting. crease of 70.8 per cent. Collisions involving property damage are also up 73.8 per cent while colli- sions resulting in injuries are up 49.3 per cent. Fatal collisions declined from four in 2021 to three in Impaired driving appre- Individual \ConrporationyswiKust Payroll, HST including Oa MC MOLINOS LD MTES Tax Amnesty, & Reassessments Tax Audit, & Appeal CRA Collection Instalment Taxpayer Relief and Fairness Chartered Pr ICRA Ying Yang nal Accountant Member of Canadian Tax Foundation (647) 989-1276 yy@yangaccounting Resolution For ai Make fordable solution to your Business n Appointment Today for a nd Individu: ax difficulties ... Consult; hensions are also down from 232 in 2021 to 203 in 202: 2. Tanner pointed out that crime took a dive in Halton as a result of COVID-19. People staying in their homes meant fewer resi- dential break-ins and few- er reported assaults, while less people driving to work meant fewer vehicle colli- sions, he said. With life starting to re- turn to normal, Tanner ar- gued it should not be a sur- prise crime is going back He also said the clear- ance rate has stayed con- sistent, but its percentage changed as the crime rate changed. Deputy Chief Roger Wil- kie noted Halton's popula- tion has also grown over the pandemic years, w which also means more ¢) Tanner said he exp expects to see the same trends in all other jurisdictions. the safest large municipal- ity in Canada year after year. We expect to stay there. The chief said context is important and noted that recently released data from Statistics Canada in- § dicates the Halton 2021 i crime rate was lower than every major police service 4 =. in Ontario. Tanner acknowledged = 5 that vehicle theft has gone & up Significantly in Halton. o id that while his of- 3 foots ‘have made multiple ES arrests in connection with 8 these incidents and will 8 continue to investigate 8 he argued vehicle manufacturers alsoneed to play a role by making their vehicles less vulnerable to A in pi ticular repro- emyeo | 2 The chief also pointed out the federal gove has a role to play i in ne ping firearms from illegal- ly crossing the border and into the vatting hands of criminal Halton Police Board Chair Jeff Knoll called fora more detailed breakdown of what crimes are on the increase. That data will be pre- sented at a future meeting. ! Watson Investments “Our clients enjoy talking about their retirement dreams and we enjoy helping them get there.” Peter & Jennife! Accepting new clients. Please visit com to book a free consultation. Offering safe virtual meetings and e-signatures for new client onboarding. & info@watsoninvestments.com ®& (905) 842-2100 Jennifer Watson CFP®, CIM® Peter Watson MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCS! woo"uoyEYyepIsUt