22001100 UUPPDDAATTEE TTOO TTHHEE EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTTAALL SSCCAANN JULY 2010 2010 Update to the Environmental Scan PREFATORY NOTE : Due to the long-term nature of many trends outlined in the Environmental Scan, and to align with the Service's Business Planning process, a complete Scan is now produced every three years. For the years in which a comprehensive scanning process is not undertaken, Corporate Planning provides a brief update, mainly statistical, of most chapters. Given the extended timeframe of much of the information contained within the Scan, this update does not provide extensive analysis of the data or of the various trends noted. Nor does it discuss recommendations/implications for police service. Detailed discussion, analyses of many of the trends noted in this update, and the recommendations/implications for police service can be found in the 2008 Environmental Scan. 2010 Update to the Environmental Scan 2010 Update to the Environmental Scan TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I. Crime Trends Highlights.............................................................................................................1 A. National Crime Trends ....................................................................................3 B. Interpretation of Police-Reported Crime Data.................................................3 C. Contemporary Policing & Confronting Issues.................................................4 D. Number of Crimes in Toronto .........................................................................6 E. Rates for Comparisons.....................................................................................7 F. Changes in Proportion of Major Offence Groups............................................9 G. Crimes of Violence..........................................................................................10 H. Use of Weapons & Injury of Crime Victims...................................................10 I. Theft of Motor Vehicles and Break & Enter ....................................................12 J. Drug-Related Crimes........................................................................................14 K. Organized Crime..............................................................................................16 L. Hi-Tech Crime & Identity Theft ......................................................................17 M. Persons Arrested & Charged...........................................................................20 N. Trends Across Police Divisions.......................................................................23 O. Comparison with Other Canadian Cities.........................................................25 Chapter Appendix (Divisional Statistics) ............................................................29 II . Youth Crime Highlights.............................................................................................................35 A. A Perspective on Youth Crime........................................................................36 B. Youth Criminal Justice Act..............................................................................37 C. Youth Crime in Canada ...................................................................................37 D. Youth Crime in Toronto ..................................................................................40 E. Crimes Occurring on School Premises ............................................................47 F. Drug Use by Youths.........................................................................................48 Chapter Appendix (Persons Arrested/Charged by Age and Offence) .................50 III . Victims & Witnesses Highlights.............................................................................................................53 A. Victimization in Canada ..................................................................................54 B. Reporting Victimization to the Police .............................................................54 C. Victimization – Total and By Gender..............................................................55 D. Victimisation – By Age ...................................................................................57 E. Groups at Risk..................................................................................................60 F. Hate/Bias Crime...............................................................................................63 G. Victim Resources.............................................................................................65 Table of Contents i 2010 Update to the Environmental Scan PAGE IV. Traffic Highlights.............................................................................................................67 A. Traffic Collisions.............................................................................................68 B. Public Perceptions of Traffic ...........................................................................71 C. Highway Traffic Act........................................................................................72 D. Impaired Driving .............................................................................................73 V. Calls for Service Highlights.............................................................................................................75 A. Calls Received and Method of Response ........................................................76 B. Response Times ...............................................................................................77 C. Service Times ..................................................................................................80 VI . Police Resources Highlights.............................................................................................................85 A. Workforce Demographics................................................................................86 B. Workforce Diversity ........................................................................................95 VII . Public Perceptions Highlights.............................................................................................................99 A. General Community – Toronto........................................................................100 B. Community Focus Groups...............................................................................108 C. High School Students.......................................................................................109 Table of Contents ii 2010 Update to the Environmental Scan 1 I. CRIME TRENDS The nature and extent of crime are social indicators of the safety and security of the public and are often used for the evaluation of effectiveness of policies and programs to reduce crime. In policing, a significant portion of police activity is spent in the prevention and detection of crime and the apprehension of offenders. Information about changing crime patterns or types of offenders allows the Police Service to develop strategies to address changing problems, make rational decisions, and plan activities according to, or in anticipation of, crime-related trends. HIGHLIGHTS • In 2009, a total of 180,283 non-traffic Criminal Code offences occurred in Toronto, which was a 3.8% decrease from 2008, a 10.7% decrease from five years, and an 8.5% decrease from ten years ago in 2000. The overall number of reported crimes in 2009, in fact, was the lowest in the past ten years. • Between 2008 and 2009, decreases were noted for all major categories of crimes, including a 2.6% decrease for violent crime, a 2.4% decrease for property crime, and a 7.7% decrease for other non-traffic Criminal Code offences. • The specific crimes that decreased between 2008 and 2009 included homicide (-11.3%), assault (-4.0%), robbery (-0.9%), break & enter (-4.6%), auto theft (-17.7%), fraud (-10.2%), offensive weapons (-4.0%), and drugs (-11.9%). The few offences that showed an increase included sexual assault (4.0%), robbery of financial institution (9.3%), and theft from vehicle (13.2%). • Crime in general decreased over ten years ago (-8.5%), with decreases in all major offence categories, including an 11.2% drop in violent crime, an 8.9% drop in property crime, and a 5.4% drop in other Criminal Code offences. Specific crimes that increased from ten years ago included robbery (15.0%), fraud (88.6%), and offensive weapons (28.0%). • The number of robberies recorded in 2009 was a continued drop from the peak seen in 2006, but it was still a 15.0% increase over ten years ago. Most of the robberies in 2009 were muggings (37.6%) and swarmings (20.1%). The number of robberies involving financial institutions/businesses in 2009 was an increase from the previous year, five years ago, and ten years ago. And, while the number of home invasions decreased in 2009, it still represented a large increase (62.9%) over ten years ago. • With respect to the number of crimes per 1,000 population, a trend of decrease was seen over the past ten years. The overall rate of non-traffic Criminal Code offences dropped from 76.7 1 Due to different counting methods and/or different data sources, numbers and percentage changes in this chapter may differ slightly from those in other Toronto Police Service publications. For example, in the Annual Statistical Report, number of sexual assaults also includes non-assaultive sexual offences, and the number of homicides is the number of victims not the number of homicide offences/charges.