Local numbers from Statistics Canada show violent crime in Owen Sound was up in 2023.
Three homicides last year were represented in a steep increase of 67.4 per cent in the violent crime statistics in 2023 compared to 2022.
City Police Chief Craig Ambrose says in an interview “Last year we had unprecedented levels,” explaining those homicides in the city and one infant death where charges were laid contributed to the increase, as well as sexual assaults, and sexual assaults with a weapon.
“We fully expected violent crime numbers would increase significantly because the weightings of a homicide on a small a community— it makes a bigger difference than it does for a homicide in a larger community,” says Ambrose.
On July 7th 2023, 47 year old Terry Albert Hull, of Toronto was found dead in a homicide on 2nd Avenue East.
17-year-old Robert McIntosh of Owen Sound was killed in a shooting July 11th, 2023 at an apartment complex on 6th Avenue West.
On August 24th, 44 year old Sharif Rahman died from injuries he suffered in an assault outside his restaurant The Curry House in downtown Owen Sound.
The Crime Severity Index is different than the crime rate, which is the number of incidents per 100,000 people. The Crime Severity Index gives heavier numerical weight to more serious crimes.
“Any time you have three homicides in a small community like ours, and certainly we felt the effects of that through both investigation that we’re still working on and now we’ve got charges laid in some of them and we’re moving forward through the court process,” says Ambrose.
Meanwhile, the clearance rate for crimes in the city increased by about 22 per cent.
Ambrose says, “Clearance rates, are, I would say good for our community and good for the police service. It’s a good reflection that we do a thorough job of investigating things and we do lay charges in a number of incidents.”
He adds, “Unfortunately a lot of incidents come to police attention after they happen and especially with violent crime or the crimes against persons — a number of the individuals that were involved in those incidents aren’t from Owen Sound. The incidents occurred here in Owen Sound but the problems come to our area.”
Non-violent crime was down about 5 per cent in 2023.