Rising crime in 2022 annual report due to post-pandemic transition, police say

A wide range of crime statistics, from calls for service to the severity of crimes, increased across Ottawa in 2022, according to the latest annual report from Ottawa police.

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) released its 2022 annual report Monday, which compiles an overview of statistics, such as calls for service, police response times and police programs and initiatives.

In a news release announcing the report, police attributed the rise in crime to a transition from the COVID-19 pandemic to a post-pandemic period.

"As we transition from the pandemic, it is important to highlight the comparability between these two periods," the statement reads. "As a result, several public safety metrics have risen compared to the previous year."

Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs said at a news conference Monday the reasons for a crime increase are "multi-faceted."

He listed a return to a "pre-pandemic" world, a population increase and emerging social issues as potential contributing factors.

"Our members are very busy. They see it, people that have been on the front line for a number of years have seen that steady increase of work," Stubbs said.

Report highlights

Requests for service increased nearly four per cent in 2022 compared to 2021, reaching 370,000 total. That increase means Ottawa police received 8,600 more calls through the dispatch system and 4,700 more reports online.

Reported criminal offences in the city increased by 19 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021, resulting in 43,000 total reported crimes. That number excludes traffic offences.

Ottawa's crime severity index — a measure police say "reflects the relative seriousness of individual offences and tracks changes in severity over time" — increased by 12 per cent in 2022. This increase, according to the police report, can be largely attributed to an upward trend in threats, assaults, robberies and thefts.

Meanwhile, the non-violent crime severity index increased by 17 per cent.

Values for the OPS crime severity index "are estimated," according to the report, and do not represent the official index of the same name published by Statistics Canada. The report does not include any further details about how it calculates the index.

The volume of reported violent crimes increased by six per cent in 2022, a development OPS says is also driven by assaults, threats and robberies.

Property offences also increased in 2022 over 2021, with 26 per cent more of these crimes reported to police. This increase was driven by thefts from motor vehicles, commercial break-and-enters and the total number of thefts, a measure that includes shoplifting.

Intimate partner violence also up

OPS also laid 13 per cent more charges related to intimate partner violence in 2022 than it did in 2021, and recorded a 10 per cent increase in occurrences of intimate partner violence.

Stubbs called the increase "a concern," but added OPS is working on building relationships with social agencies in Ottawa. Stubbs said he hopes some of the increase in reported incidents may be explained by growing trust from victims of intimate partner violence toward police.

Not every crime measure increased in 2022. The number of reported shootings in the city declined from 82 in 2021 to 60 last year — a decrease of 27 per cent.

In 2022, Ottawa police recorded 13 homicides with 15 victims in the city, while in 2021, police investigated 15 "occurrences" of homicide.

The 2021 Ottawa police report also noted year-over-year increases in most crime statistics.

Read the full 2022 report here: