Lowertown Community Association’s crime and safety report
Lowertown crime data shows a safe neighbourhood in need of a crime prevention strategy.
“We have a high concentration of bars, nightclubs and restaurants, which means more intoxicated people and higher rates of interpersonal crimes. There’s more police presence, which means more crimes are reported and detected. And the nature of the neighbourhood – shelters, licensed establishments – means more intoxication, drug use and street-level assaults,” explained Norman Moyer to the many residents who came to hear and talk about crime data at Lowertown Community Association’s (LCA) April meeting.
The statistics for the neighbourhood were obtained through an Access to Information request from the Ottawa Police, a project led by residents Norman Moyer and Jan Grabowiecki for the LCA Safety and Security Committee. The data indicates that crime rates have risen slightly in Lowertown over the past six years; while the rise is not large, it has occurred at a time when crime rates are falling elsewhere in the city. Residents would like to see these numbers coming down; most feel very safe in Lowertown, except later at night, and are concerned that the media exaggerate the issue of crime in this area, portraying a negative image of a generally safe and thriving community. Lowertown is a safe neighbourhood and residents are working to keep it that way.
The community members present at the April meeting agreed that the best way to get support for crime reduction strategies and to fight the negative image portrayed by the media is to establish a solid basis of evidence on crime in the area. Using the existing crime data as a starting point, members of the LCA will be taking tangible steps to engage with the Ottawa Police, the City, and other stakeholder groups and residents to promote a collective response to crime and to illustrate that far from being an unsafe place to live, Lowertown is a community of engaged citizens with a vested interest in our neighbourhood.
The first step in addressing the question of crime is to ensure Lowertown residents and business owners have access to accurate data. In 2015, The Echo ran Jan Grabowiecki’s article asking “Can we tell if crime rates in Lowertown are increasing or decreasing?” It has taken a year to obtain a credible answer to this question: although police have crime data for the entire city, they only compile and release them if there is a specific request through the Freedom of Information Act of Ontario and if the asking party is willing to pay for the cost of producing the statistics.
The LCA is currently pushing the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) to make crime data available on the City’s open data website. Until that happens, the LCA will continue to access the data annually through FIA to track what is happening in Lowertown. At the LCA meeting in February 2016, representatives of the OPS generally confirmed the portrait that is captured in the statistics used here. However, they also suggested that some improvements may be seen in reports that were to be released soon. After waiting two months for these new numbers, to no avail, the LCA decided to proceed with releasing the statistics obtained through the FIA request.
Is crime increasing in Lowertown?
Prior to the release of the crime statistics from the OPS, residents noticed a tug-of-war between anecdotal evidence that seemed to show that crime rates were still falling in Lowertown and simplistic media reports that often portray the area as rife with crime. The statistics give a more accurate answer. The total number of crimes in Lowertown, as shown in chart 1, shows a slight increase for the period of 2009 to 2014. The chart also shows significant year-to-year variations. The year 2012 was higher, while 2013 was much lower across all categories. Unfortunately, the numbers bounced back up in 2014. This is an indication that now is the right time for interested parties to engage more actively in this matter.
The OPS statistics are broken into major crime categories. As illustrated in chart 2, both crimes against property and crimes against people showed an increase between 2009 and 2014. The total number of reported property crimes goes from 845 in 2009 to 941 in 2014, an increase of 11%. Crimes against people increased from 350 in 2009 to 429 in 2014, a rise of 23%. It should be noted, however, that there are significant variations in the data from year to year within this six year period, with crimes against people showing a high of 478 reported incidences in 2012, and property crimes showing a high of 1033 in 2011.
Chart 1: Total reported crimes per year in Lowertown
According to inspector Mike Laviolette of the Ottawa Police Service, “statistics are reflective of proactive policing, which results in more charges laid in the area.”
In Chart 2,the categories are further broken down into the most common types of crimes. The total number of assaults, the most common interpersonal crime, went from 215 in 2009 to 259 in 2014, an increase of 11%, with some variation in between.
Lowertown
Over the same time period, reported sexual violations went from 24 in 2009 to 42 in 2014, an increase of 75%. The total number of robberies showed no increase over the six year period. In contrast, traffic-related criminal offenses went from 214 in 2009 to 165 in 2014, a decrease of 30%. Offenses under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act showed a slight increase of 230 in 2009 to 239 in 2014 (not pictured).
Attitudes to safety
Prior to obtaining the crime data from the OPS, the LCA conducted two online surveys that included questions about feelings of safety and security in Lowertown. 70% of respondents indicated that they felt safe during the day, while only 36% reported feeling safe at night. Based on this, it is important that measures to reduce crime and increase the feeling of safety be concentrated on the nighttime period. Extra police patrols would be most effective at that time.
Understanding crime in Lowertown
Crime trends in general are complex and the cause of crime in any area is never singular or simple. Factors such as variations in police resources can influence the rates of recorded crimes from year to year. Similarly, fluctuations in tourism and weather can also have a bearing on crime rates. In addition, contextual factors specific to geographic areas influence crime rates and patterns. Based on anecdotal evidence from the OPS and residents, as well as the broad criminological literature, there are several noteworthy and potential contributing factors to the crime rates in Lowertown. 1) The large number of people coming to the ByWard Market area as tourists or to visit the bars, nightclubs and restaurants. 2) The presence of a large homeless population and numerous homeless shelters. 3) The large transient population living in and around Lowertown, including many university students. 4) The drug trade and public consumption of drugs in the neighbourhood.
These factors help contextualize Lowertown as a unique community, with a mixture of middle class residences next to homeless shelters, a busy entertainment district next to a residential neighbourhood, and a high number of tourists visiting, particularly in the summer months. The crime statistics on Lowertown should be considered with this context in mind. And indeed, the course of action for the LCA to take in response to the statistics will consider these factors.
Action plan on crime in Lowertown
When addressing crime rates, it is common to ask why the police aren’t able to lower the crime rates with more cars on the road or more officers on the streets. Resource constraints aside, the police are only one piece of the puzzle. The most effective crime reduction strategies involve a multitude of community stakeholders to work proactively together. The LCA believes that the City, the Police, businesses, non-profits, community stakeholder groups, and residents can work together to address problematic crime patterns in Lowertown. The LCA proposes several actions to start this process.
First, the LCA is approaching the issue directly by creating a special sub-committee on Community Safety. More directed research would be useful to inform a course of action to address crime in Lowertown. The LCA would like to undertake research in partnership with the ByWard Market BIA and the Lowertown East Community Resource Centre. Together, these groups could work with volunteers and utilize part-time student resources to conduct focused research to better understand the issues. The Community Safety Committee will try to establish a relationship with the School of Criminology at the University of Ottawa to seek assistance in conducting research.
Second, the LCA notes that the rising number of crimes is correlated with the expansion of bars, and nightclubs in the ByWard Market area. The LCA supports the decision of the City to enforce the bylaws that are intended to prevent the conversion of restaurants into bars and nightclubs, and asks that a full report be made on these activities after one year. The LCA will continue to oppose the granting of additional licensed seats at bars and nightclubs in the Market area. The LCA will encourage the City and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to take into account the high concentration of licensed establishments in this area as they make zoning, bylaw and licensing decisions.
Third, the LCA will continue to foster a close relationship with the OPS and will continue to encourage the OPS to maintain their community patrols in Lowertown. Police play a very effective role in maintaining the peace in this complex neighbourhood. The Ottawa Police are very present on the streets of Lowertown – although that may change with the recent changes brought by the Ottawa Police Service Initiative. Residents appreciate the fact that the OPS has for years had a special district focus on our community and resident are concerned that the recent changes announced by OPS may result in the loss of patrols by officers who are familiar with the neighbourhood. In light of increase in crime numbers shown in the OPS statistics, the LCA urges the Ottawa Police Service to maintain and enhance the presence of officers in this area who know and understand the unique challenges faced by this neighbourhood.
Fourth, the LCA will continue to track crime data for the area. The LCA is requesting that the ByWard Market Safety and Security Committee (of the BIA) become an active partner in tracking crime data and developing plans to address problems as they arise. Until now the Committee has worked with very selective and short term information generated on the OPS website and through the street ambassadors employed by the BIA. The LCA is sending specific proposals to the ByWard Market Safety and Security Committee to undertake joint research projects and hopes that the Committee will start to play a more active role in conducting much-needed research on safety and security in Lowertown.
If you live in Lowertown and are interested in getting more involved with the LCA or the Community Safety Committee, you can contact norman.moyer@gmail.com or caitlin.hawkesfrost@gmail.com.
Notes: The statistics obtained from the OPS are based on crimes that are reported to the Police and for which a file is opened. These statistics do not portray total ‘founded’ crimes, arrests or charges. For the purposes of this study, Lowertown is defined as the geographic area bounded by Rideau Canal, Ottawa River, Rideau River and Rideau St.
Chart 2: Crimes in Lowertown by major categories