Ottawa has the lowest violent crime rate in the country, according to a Statistics Canada report.
The report says Ottawa recorded the lowest number of violent crimes of any of Canada's big cities in 2007.
"It just goes to show Ottawa's the best city in Canada to live, work and play. New chief, new mayor, new approach - it works," Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien told CTV Ottawa on Thursday.
The number of crimes reported to Ottawa police was down five per cent from 2006, something Deputy Police Chief Gilles Larochelle says demonstrates a push to step up foot patrol in the Capital is working.
"Those officers are out working, they're out there, they got their eyes and ears to the road, they speak to the community and they try to find out what's going on in that respective area," he said.
Larochelle also credits specialized teams of investigators for a drop in the number of break and enters in the Capital.
"These teams identify known offenders who cause a small percentage of calls, a large percentage of crime. So we follow these individuals and we catch them in the act" he said.
Despite a drop in crimes, both the mayor and police say this is not the time to cut the police budget or chop funding on anti-crime initiatives.
"I haven't met anybody yet who says there's too many cops on the streets," said Larochelle.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Chris Day
