Are We Likely To See Crime Stat Website In Toronto

Probably not....we have a mayor and a group of left wing councillors who won't admit we have a crime problem and don't want to upset residents by highlighting their neighborhood as a "high risk" area. But I notice that even the Winnipeg stats don't list ethnicity.

Winnipeg unveils CrimeStat website to public

Updated Fri. Feb. 2 2007 11:19 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Winnipeg has unveiled its CrimeStat website, showing the public daily or weekly crime statistics in the city -- information usually seen only by the police.

"I think what you will see it an unprecedented level of openness and transparency," said Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.

"You will be able to see exactly what is going on in our fair city."

Winnipeg joins several other North American cities in using the program, including Vancouver and New York City. The website can be found here.

The software allows police to get a quicker look at data from the Winnipeg Police Service Records Management System, giving them a better sense of emerging trends, and the ability to plot areas of heavy activity.

"As we see trends developing, we're actually in a position to proactively do something about it, as opposed to getting those numbers a month or several months down the road when it's too late to react to them," said Deputy Chief Menno Zacharias.

District police commanders hope the information will lead to a reduction in crime, as trends become more immediately apparent.

Winnipeg officials first travelled to Minneapolis, another city that uses CrimeState, to watch the program in action and see how it affected policing.

"They would flood an area with police contacts," said Councilor Gord Steeves of Winnipeg's protection committee.

"I quizzed the chiefs and deputy chiefs what that meant. And what it meant was sending people into an area to make contact with people who appeared suspicious."

The Winnipeg system is now broken down into districts. But in March, residents will be able to monitor specific neighbourhood maps, to see what sorts of crimes -- and how many -- are happening nearby.

But officials said they will be careful about how much information is disclosed.

"We're not going to put specific points on the map, because that would just perhaps further victimize someone," said Detective Sgt. Angela Epp.

"We don't want that. So it'll be in the middle of the street, or middle of the block, so it's in the area. We're kind of hoping everyone in the neighbourhood takes an interest in what's going on."

With a report by CTV Winnipeg's Kelly Dehn