2014 Annual Report now available

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 23, 2015          10:00am 

(Ottawa)—The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has released its 2014 Annual Report. The report is listed on the agenda of the July 27 meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board. 

“The report provides an opportunity to report back to the Ottawa Police Services Board and the community we serve on our performance, special initiatives and the day-to-day work of our members,” said Acting Chief Jill Skinner. “It features some of the stories behind the statistics related to crime and policing in Ottawa and highlights some of the work being done on our three top priorities—guns and gangs, violence against women, and road safety.” 

The information contained in the Annual Report provides residents and visitors with a better understanding of crime and road safety in Ottawa. The report offers an overview of police activities and initiatives, as well as crime and performance statistics for last year. 

New features: 

Crime Severity Index (CSI): The Crime Severity Index (CSI) was introduced by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) at Statistics Canada. The CSI is a measure of crime that reflects the relative seriousness of individual offences. To calculate the index value, weights derived from sentencing data are assigned to offence types. Values in this table are estimated and do not represent the official Crime Severity Index as published by Statistics Canada. 

Sexual Violations Category: In keeping with CCJS coding structure sexual assaults have been removed from the assault category and are now included under Sexual Violations. 

Other Criminal Code: The Other Criminal Code summary has been regrouped to replicate CCJS reporting. Categories will now be grouped as Offensive Weapons, Gaming and Betting, Prostitution and Other Criminal Code Offences 

Highlights: 

• With 31,467 reported Criminal Code of Canada offences (excluding traffic) in the City of Ottawa, the level of crime declined by -2% in the past year or 721 fewer incidents. 
• Ottawa’s Crime Severity Index (CSI) declined by -30% over the last five years, falling by almost -8% last year alone.  In 2014 the violent crime CSI fell -7% to 45, while the non violent crime CSI fell nearly -8% to 42. 
• The level of violent crime declined by -3% in 2014 (-174 offences). Fewer assaults (-7%) and robberies (-23%) accounted for the majority of the overall decrease in this category.  
• In 2014, there were 7 homicides, a -30% decrease over 2013, with the solvency rate for the most serious offence type of 71%. 
• The solvency rate for total Criminal Code offences (excluding traffic) fell slightly to 37% in 2014 just below the five year average of 38%. 
• Property Crimes account for 66% of all reported crimes in the City. In 2014 the number of property offences declined by -2% (-530 incidents) while the solvency rate declined by -2 percentage points to 24%. 
• The decline in non-violent offences was driven by fewer theft $5,000 and under (-3%) and break and enters offences (-8%) last year. 

“Ottawa is a safe city and we are always looking for ways to improve service to residents,” added Acting Chief Jill Skinner. “I am proud of the commitment and dedication of our members who work every day to keep residents safe.” 

The 2014 Annual Report is available at ottawapolice.ca/2014. 

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