Over the course of 2022, property and violent crimes rose in Orillia as drug crimes saw a significant decline.
Orillia OPP detachment commander Coyer Yateman presented recent crime statistics to the Police Services Board this week, covering data from August through December 2022, which also included year-over-year statistics for multiple crime categories.
Violent crime rose 34 per cent year-over-year, jumping from 588 incidents in 2021 to 788 in 2022, he noted.
There was a 17.8 per cent increase in assault, as well as a 93.8 per cent increase in sexual assault in the city over that time, Yateman explained.
A large reason for the rise in violent crimes, particularly sexual assault, was due to a change in how retirement homes report sexual assault, Yateman told OrilliaMatters.
“Retirement homes are now mandated to report every sexual assault. Before, they would deal with some stuff, like if a dementia patient potentially touched somebody, they would not call that in,” he explained. “Now they're mandated to call it in, so the majority of that increase is just from old age homes.”
Property crime incidents rose eight per cent year-over-year, jumping from 1,395 to 1,507 incidents over that time.
There were decreases in most types of property crimes, such as arson and breaking and entering, with rises across three categories.
Fraud rose 19 per cent year-over-year, with theft under $5000 rising 19.7 per cent and theft over $5,000 rising 4.9 per cent.
Drug crimes, however, saw a 31.3 per cent decrease in 2022, dropping to 57 incidents from 83 in 2021.
Drug possession incidents dropped 23.5 per cent, and trafficking incidents dropped 36.7 per cent over that time.
When asked by the board if he is noticing any crime trends emerging, Yateman highlighted it is difficult to point out any trends in years that include COVID-19 public health measures.
“...Two years is a very difficult time frame, especially when you're (going) in and out of COVID lockdowns, to really show any type of trends,” he said. “I brought it up, asking if we can get a more five- or potentially ten-year data report, which would assist us in identifying trends.”
Coun. Ralph Cipolla asked if there was any specific data for downtown Orillia.
“Downtown is not typically one of our busier areas in the municipality. The report doesn't differentiate between (wards),” Yateman said. “If you would like, I could get specific data for the downtown.
“It likely wouldn't be at every meeting, but it would be something maybe we could pull up (for) a year-end, analytical aspect," Yateman said.
Cipolla noted employees at his business feel unsafe leaving work in the evening, and said the data would prove useful as the city works to revitalize its downtown.
“If we could get those stats for the downtown, I think mayor and council would be really interested, especially in that we're looking at revitalizing our downtown,” he said.
