Comparing Crime between Dallas TX and Thunder Bay ON

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THUNDER BAY – Question; which city, Dallas Texas or Thunder Bay has less crime? The average Canadian would likely answer that certainly Thunder Bay is a safer place to live.

Over the past thirty days, excluding “Pro-active Policing” there have been over 500 calls for service for the Thunder Bay Police Service on the Crime Mapping web site. The incidents range from sexual assaults, assaults, break-ins, property crime, and weapons offences.

There are, on average between 21 to 23 incidents per day.

It does not include many incidents including bike thefts, and minor vandalism which many people no longer bother reporting because they realize the chances of solving the crime and catching the criminal are very slim.

There has been a lot made of “unreported crime” in recent days. For a resident, or a shop owner making a decision to call police over a minor crime has, in many cases become a matter of choosing cost effectiveness over the law.

For contrast, using the Crime Mapping feature, and looking at Dallas Texas, the rates of crime in that city of 1.2 million people are actually similar in total numbers to Thunder Bay.

In Thunder Bay, with a population of 116,000 people there have been 298 crimes recorded on Crime Mapping over the past 14 days. In Dallas, Texas, over the same time period, there have been 207 crimes recorded.

Considering that Dallas is ten times our size in population it is perhaps a demonstration of the real scope of the issue in our city. For many Canadians, we are content in the idea that we are safer than the United States.

The information on Crime-Mapping demonstrates what might be a different story. There has been one homicide in Dallas during the past 14 days. Thunder Bay, thankfully has not had another homicide over the same time period.

In Thunder Bay over the past several days, incidents of vandalism are on the rise. On Sunday morning, near Volunteer Pool, a car with a sunroof was vandalized. The criminals put the hose into the car, turned it on and filled the car with water. A senseless crime.

For citizens of our city, we are fortunate in some ways. Our frontline officers have one of the best crime clearing rates going.

The weakest link in the chain appears to be the Police Administration. Communications with the public remain poor. Reporting criminal activities remains a “Don’t tell” approach that seems to be supported by the Police Services Board.

Looking at the new Crime-Mapping feature, and comparing incidents of crime between different communities brings home the problem facing our frontline police officers.

Why the Police Administration seems content to deny the scope of the problem suggests what is really needed maybe new leadership, and new ideas.

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The picture with this article is a screen capture of the crime incidents in Thunder Bay over the past thirty day.

For the comparison between Thunder Bay and Dallas I removed traffic offensives.

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James Murray
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