TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2020) Hold-ups, retail robberies and shootings are on the rise while other crime has declined over the past month in Toronto amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but other crimes have decreased, Toronto Police Service spokesperson Meaghan Gray told Sputnik.
"While it is far too early to make any determination on possible crime trends during this time, we do know that since March 16, 2020, our weekly statistics have shown the following: A decline in overall robberies but, when broken down, an increase in hold-ups and retail robberies combined with a decrease in street robberies," Gray said on Friday.
Gray added that the incidents of shootings in Toronto have also increased since mid-March.
The Toronto Police Service did note that other types of crime have decreased while the city has largely been on lockdown, including assaults, auto-theft and sexual assaults.
Also, domestic assaults have decreased, an area of concern previously identified by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as residents are forced to stay within the confines of their homes.
According to the service, the number of break-and-enters during since March 16 continues to fluctuate as residential break-and-enters decline, while commercial spaces have been targeted more often.
Since Mayor John Tory declared a state of emergency on March 23, the service has experienced a decline in non-emergency calls, such as reports of parking violations, while the volume of emergency calls has held steady.
Toronto's crime trends, except for shootings, reflect the situation in other major cities across North America.
In the first three months of 2020, Toronto has recorded 108 shootings up 38 percent from the same period last year during which the city set a record for this statistic.
Overall, major crime in the city since the start of the year is up 1 percent over the same period last year.
The TPS said that there has been no impact on frontline policing services.
