Even aside from the homicide and attempted homicide that occurred in August, local police saw a surge in violent crime over this last summer.
“We are seeing our violent crimes increase, specifically robberies and sexual assaults and, of course, the homicide and attempted homicide that occurred with the firearm incident that we responded to in early August,” Stratford Police Service (SPS) Chief Gregory Skinner said at the most recent police service board meeting on Sept. 18.
The board did not meet in July and August, so the monthly statistics for June, July and August for each of the SPS’ regions (Stratford, St. Marys and Perth South) were presented.
Though Perth South saw no assaults over the summer and only one sexual offence, Stratford and St. Marys saw much more. In Stratford, there were 14 assaults in June, eight in July and 11 in August. There were four sexual offences in June, four in July, and two in August.
In St. Marys, there were four assaults in June, three in July and four in August. There were no sexual offences in June or August, but there was one in July.
Skinner also said mental-health calls, overdoses and drug-and-alcohol offences (particularly impaired driving) continued to trend upwards as well, along with violence in regards to youth charges.
Though the statistics presented did not include September, Skinner said incidents involving youth typically rise that month due to the start of the school year.
Shoplifting is also trending upwards. Skinner attributed that to the rise of inflation and the difficulty residents are having with making ends meet.
The good news, Skinner assured, is there have been fewer domestic-violence and property crime incidents.
Over the course of June, July and August, there were 928 charges laid in Stratford, 160 in St. Marys, and 418 in August.
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