Ottawa’s crime stats up across all major indicators in 2021, Ottawa’s police board to hear

Ottawa’s crime rate climbed in 2020-2021 — and that includes both violent and non-violent types of crimes.

The latest report is according to the City of Ottawa’s crime trends, which will be released at the Ottawa Police Service Board meeting on Monday, June 27.

According to the figures, demand for service increased seven per cent in 2021 to nearly 357,000 requests for service. This translates into 24,000 more calls received through the dispatch system and 800 reports received online.

And 94 per cent of those priority calls were responded to within 15 minutes, with cops taking an average of seven minute to arrive on scene at an emergency call.

With about 36,260 reported Criminal Code of Canada offences (excluding traffic) in Ottawa, the level of reported crime jumped by eight per cent last year.

The clearance rate for total Criminal Code offences (excluding traffic), however, declined by two per cent, with 32 per cent of all cases cleared by charge or cleared otherwise.

The volume of reported violent crimes themselves increase by seven per cent in 2021, which were mostly driven by assaults, sexual violations and threats.

Sexual violations alone jumped to 891 reported incidents, up from 784.

Property-related offences jumped by five per cent last year, primarily due to the increases in the number of thefts, including thefts from motor vehicles.

There were 14 homicides in 2021, with nearly 80 per cent solved to-date.

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) also reported that the number of shootings returned to historical levels with 82 incidents, while OPS officers also seized 80 crime guns through proactive work to address street violence in the community.

The ward that saw the highest increase in its crime rate is Barrhaven ward with a 20.7 per cent increase. The ward that saw the most dramatic drop in its crime rate is Innes ward with an 8.8 per cent decrease.

There was also a 17 per cent increase in the number of mental health incidents report to police. This means police responded to 8,000 incidents in 2021.
Breaking it down further, the crime rate amounts to 3,511 offences per 100,000 Ottawa residents.

And it all came with a price tag of $343.9 million.

The full report will be presented at Monday’s meeting at City Hall.