Crime in Winnipeg

[Steve]

Here is a question.  I know some of the forum members are not from Winnipeg, so please bear with me.

Is crime in Winnipeg really as bad as we see it portrayed in the Newspaper and television news?

Every time  I pick up the Free Press I feel like I am reading a Tom Clancy novel.  It is starting to hit close to home too.  A woman with no gang affiliation or any negative affiliation had the scare of her life last week.  Some guy came running up to her house at 3:00AM pulled open her outer front door and started to open fire into the house.  He fired several shots before he ran off.  It is assumed that he thought the place was a "drug house".  This happened on Mountain Ave, very close to where I live.

Now there is this Alexander home, where some guys up to no good crashed a private party and shot six people execution style.  3 died.

A few months ago the gas station where I fill up once a week was robbed.  The clerk complied with the robbers, but apparently they felt it necessary to assualt him, then stab him in the leg.  After they ran out of the place they tried to car jack an old lady.  She was seat belted in and they couldn't get her out so they beat her up in her chair instead then ran off.

There were 3 drive by shootings in my end of the city last week.

My question is, are these just isolated incidents, or is crime in Winnipeg really that bad?

If it is that bad, what can ordinary citizenry, who move within the bounds of the law, do to protect themselves?

It is not a fair answer to say, "Don't live in the North End.".  When crack shacks on Aberdeen Ave sell for upwards of $200,000 how can new home owners (20 somethings just starting out in the home markert) afford to start anywhere else?

Troubling...

-S-

[Steven]

Crime in Winnipeg is almost certainly not as bad as it's portrayed in the media. To be sure, the incidents you listed are terrible and would make anyone question the safety of this city. But the actual facts severely distorted by the media.

Between 1990 and 1996 (I realize this is old but it gives some idea of the trend) the homicide rate in Canada declined by almost 20% while murder coverage in national media increased by 300%.

I don't have any statistics for Winnipeg specifically, but to give you an idea; In 1996 there were 12 murders in Calgary, but that year there were 1667 murder-related stories in the Calgary Herald.

The old adage "If it bleeds, it leads" apparently still holds true.

This has a definite effect on the public perception of crime. Surveys have shown that the vast majority of Canadians think that most crimes are accompanied with violence, when the real figure is fewer than 10% of crimes involve violence.

[Katie]

Sure, bad things do happen. Break-ins happen, violence happens. But, I can safely say that I've never encountered violence downtown. The vast majority of the time, gang members keep to themselves, except of course, for members of other gangs.

Again, media coverage will keep on reporting about the same murders, and focus on murders above all other crimes. Although car theft is also a real hot-button issue in Winnipeg.