Gun violence in Ottawa: Shootings down but injuries up
There have been fewer cases of people illegally shooting guns in the city of Ottawa this year, but there is a trend toward more injuries because of gun violence.
Interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell addressed the issue of gun violence at Monday’s Ottawa Police Services Board meeting.
“As of Sept. 20, we’ve seen 48 shootings this year, which is a 25 per cent decrease compared to this time last year,” Bell said. “Despite the decline in shootings, the number of people injured is on the rise. We’ve seen 27 people injured and three fatalities due to shootings this year.”
Bell says that compares to 33 injuries and nine fatalities in all of 2021.
“Our investigators remain very engaged in these files and 84 crime guns have been seized, 46 of which were seized following an OPS-led investigation with the support of the Canada Border Services Agency and the Ontario Provincial Police,” Bell said.
Overall, he said police are seeing the number of calls return to pre-pandemic levels. He said there has been a nine per cent increase in reported violent crimes, including assault (up 8 per cent), sexual violence (up 14 per cent), robberies (up 23 per cent), uttering threats (up 14 per cent), and criminal harassment (up 10 per cent).
WORKING TO GET ‘FEMICIDE’ CODIFIED
Bell also said the Ottawa Police Service is working to ensure femicide is specifically codified as a crime in Canada.
Six women have been killed in Ottawa since January, Bell said, and he noted a common thread.
“In each case, we have concluded that a man was responsible or men are facing charges for those acts. The violence must stop,” he said.
Bell said help is available, but solving the issue would require “new approaches, new ideas, and renewed collaboration with our community,” Bell continued.
“The Ottawa Police Service has begun introducing the term ‘femicide’ in our communications to describe the murder of women when the reason for death is suspected to be that the person is a woman, including intimate partner violence, misogyny, control, or sexually motivated crimes,” he said. “It is currently not in the criminal code and does not speak to motive. Our service’s use of this term is meant to bring a new dimension to the conversation about and advocacy for the elimination of violence against women in our community.”
Bell said the OPS is working with partners to help establish an official definition of femicide to be written into law.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.