Crime in Hamilton is down

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From the shooting inside a Tim Hortons restaurant, to the brazen exchange of gunfire across a busy Hamilton street, high profile crimes that have tainted Hamilton’s image as a city mired in gun violence.

But contrary to what many people may think, crime in Hamilton is on the decline.

It began in May with a brazen, daylight shooting. 4 men, captured on a dashboard camera, shooting at each other, across a busy Hamilton street. The incident terrified neighbours and raised concerns about the level and severity of violent crime in Hamilton.

Media outlets braced for “the summer of the gun?”

The mayor of Hamilton called for a gun ban. Community groups demanded police and authorities do more to curb the violence.

But perception and reality are not always the same. A new provincial study shows that violent crime in Hamilton is actually down drastically.

“A 30% drop over 5 years in our crime rate and our crime severity rate is outstanding for our city.” said Hamilton Police Chief Glenn DeCaire.

The report, by the Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative shows that in Hamilton, crime has been on the decline since 2009. Total crime, as well as the severity of crime, is down. The total number of violent crimes is also down, and again, so is the severity of the violence.

Police say increased community presence and engagement and a better understanding of mental health issues has made a difference.

“We put in place the new mobile crisis rapid response team and we’re actually working and dealing with the mental health issue not responding to the behaviour and criminalizing a health issue.” said DeCaire.

Chief DeCaire says Hamilton’s decline in crime, crime rate and violence is dropping much faster than it is in other cities in Ontario.