Edmonton leads nation in murder count
Posted Aug 2, 2011 7:58 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The murder rate is skyrocketing in the “City of Champions.”
Four more people were murdered last week, bringing this year’s total to 33.
That leads the nation, four ahead of Toronto as of Monday, and 30 ahead of Calgary.
Calgary is at the bottom of the list of seven Canadian major cities with three murders in 2011 and homicide counts have declined every year since 2007 when we had 34.
Edmonton meanwhile, has already surpassed last year’s total of 27.
The spike even led the Calgary Sun to dub the provincial capital “Deadmonton” on the front page of a recent issue.
Calgary Police Association President John Dooks says reducing crimes like murder takes a lot of work.
“There’s no one answer, it takes an implementation of many programs, both from the policing front line and a joint venture with many of our partners in the social services area, and health-and-wellness areas,” says Dooks.
Dooks credits Police Chief Rick Hanson’s plan to attack crime head-on through preventative measures for the reduced murder rates in Calgary.
He says he wishes Edmonton the best in its battle with the problem, but that things will only change when factors contributing to murder are eliminated.
