By Daniel Taylor [1]
BELLEVILLE – The Belleville Police Department has not updated their crime map in two years and counting.
On Dec. 3, 2014, the Belleville Police stopped updating their crime map.
Crime mapping is a tool used by a police force to geographically track where certain crimes are being committed, which is then made available to the public.
Communities value this tool because it allows them to have a better understanding of the safe and dangerous areas of their city.
Staff Sgt. Rene Aubertin says the halt was simply due to a lack of resources.
Belleville Police Crime Map – Last updated on December 3rd, 2014
“We stopped and we felt the manpower could be used in a more beneficial way in other parts of the service. So, we are actually in the process of working with some technological companies to try and find a way that can be auto-generated through our system and that’s what we’re working on right now”, said Aubertin.
“It’s definitely something we want to do. It’s just what’s the most cost-effective way to do it.”
The Toronto Police have been mapping crime consistently for over a decade now and in 2015, the Toronto Police launched a new and improved crime-mapping [2] tool to encourage witnesses to come forward.
Shane Brar, a staff sergeant at 33 Division [3] in Toronto says crime-mapping is an important tool in aiding the public’s understanding of dangerous areas.
“Transparency is always best. You’re going to be a better witness if you know it’s (crime) happening in your neighbourhood. An informed citizen is probably going to be the one to pick up the phone and call us and say ‘Hey, I saw somebody coming out of someone’s backyard’, if they know there’s break and entering in that area”, said Brar.
“But, if they don’t, they’re going to think someone’s got the wrong house and stuff that would look suspicious, they might overlook and don’t want to get involved. But, if they know there is crime there they are more likely to report it.”
Despite the fact that Belleville police have stopped mapping for the moment, statistics about crime in Belleville are still available on the police website.
According to the annual report [4] issued by the Belleville Police Department for 2015, the crime rate in Belleville has continued to decrease.
Although the 2016 report has not yet been released, it should be noted that the crime rate has been on a downward trend since 2011, when Belleville was ranked the most dangerous city to live in by Maclean’s magazine [5] in December of that same year.
The Belleville Police service have been effective in limiting crime since that time, as the number of total incidents have gone down since its height in 2011.
In 2014, Belleville had 22 652 total incidents and in 2015, Belleville saw that number drop by almost two thousand as the total incidents totalled 20 677.
Total number of recorded crime incidents by the Belleville Police since 2011.
However, Statistics Canada lists the number of violent crimes last year in Belleville’s violent crime index [6] at 91, up 24% from 2015.