Homicide rates are down

Sherry Noik QMI Agency Canadas murder rate fell last year to its lowest level since 1966, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. 1975 1977 Police recorded 554 homi3.03 3.00 cides in 2010 - 56 fewer than the year before. ats 1.62 for every 100,000 people. Its simply a matter of shifting demographics, said Neil Boyd, a professor at the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. We have fewer young men (18-29) in the population about half as many as in the late 70s and early 80s, he told QMI Agency. When you get a decline in the percentage of young men in any population, you can expect to get a decline in rates of crime and rates of down from 79 violent crime. the previous year. 23 He also noted our culture has 22 changed. Were a lot less 18 tolerant of violence today than we were 30 years ago, he said. Still, stabbings and shootings were the most common 10 11 methods of murder, accounting for 31% and 32%, respec5 5 tively. Another 22% of homicides involved beatings, and 8% were by strangulation or su ocation. e remaining homicides were by means such as vehicles, re and poisoning. e lower national rate was Homicides rates, driven largely by a less per 100,000 130 homicides from 2000 to homicidal West: 18 fewer population 2010 were directly related to the murders in Alberta, 12 fewer in victims job. Manitoba and 35 fewer in B.C. While those numbers may Transportation-related seem signi cant - especially occupations (taxi drivers, truck for people living in those drivers, and bus drivers. communities Boyd says 1961 statistically the numbers are Security occupations (police, 1966 small and the changes can be 1.28 correctional o cers, security 1.25 attributed to random uctuapersonnel) tion.

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In 2010, police reported 554 homicides in Canada, 56 fewer than the year before. The homicide rate fell to 1.62 for every 100,000 population, its lowest level since 1966.
One-half of all homicides in Toronto in 2010 were committed with a rearm.
1.2

In 2010, handguns accounted for the majority of homicides committed with a rearm (64%), followed by ries or shotguns (23%), and other rearms such as sawed-o shotguns, automatic rearms or other rearm-like weapons (13%)

56 youths (12 to 17 years of age) were accused of homicide in 2010

1985 2.72

1991 2.15

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 80

Homicides rates, by method

80

Gangrelated homicides, 2010

Shootings Stabbings Beatings 83 86 89 92 95

Rate per 100,00 population 98 01 04 07 10 49

83% of victims knew their killer

Total: 94 17% of all homicides were gangrelated

1988 2.15

Female victim rate 2010 0.88

2005 victim rate, Female 2010 victim rate, 2.06

Male 2.36

Dangerous occupations
27

prostitutes have been killed since 2000, as a direct result of their occupation

Ont.

Man.

Sask.

Alta.

Que.

Atlantic

B.C.

78

2010 0.88

2008 1.83 2003 1.74

36 32

2009 1.81 2010 1.62

22 15

Number of homicides in 2010 by CMA 6 6

0 0 0 0 1 1 5 5 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4

11 12 9 10 8

13

26

Sources: Statistics Canada

22 Retail employees 19 Restaurant, bar/hotel worker

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SUSAN BATSFORD, GRAPHICS EDITOR, TWITTER @SBATS1/QMI AGENCY