Ashleigh Ward has had her house broken into, and that's not all.
"…Broken into my shed numerous times vandalism on the outside of my house, a home invasion," said Ward.
The Winnipeg resident believes there was one common denominator among the different suspects involved.
"Every single person was high on methamphetamine at the time," said Ward.
Newly released numbers show crime rates from 2016 to 2017 rose in Winnipeg, and in most of the city’s neighbourhoods.
"The volume of violent crime went up in virtually every area of the city," said Police Chief Danny Smyth.
- Violent crime up 7%.
- Property crime up 9%
- Drug crimes up 15 %
"Some of the statistics we're seeing today they're very concerning,” said Mayor Brian Bowman.
Smyth says aggravated assaults and robberies in particular are off the charts, indicating to him the culprit is meth.
Smyth says one-third of all homicides in 2017 were meth-related.
“We are routinely seeing extreme behavior such as aggression and psychosis." said Smyth.
All of this is putting a strain on police and other emergency resources. Calls for service are closing in on 600,000 a year.
"There are many other agencies that have to get involved and get proactive including citizens," said David Asper, chair of the Winnipeg Police Board.
Smyth says programs are needed to help people leave gangs and more drug treatment options are required.
"So this is a community in crisis that requires a community and government response."
The province its response includes recent initiatives like the creation of rapid access addictions clinics and funding to tackle mental health, drug addictions and gangs.
A joint statement was released from Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen and Justice Minister Heather Stefanson.
"Our government is not interested in playing politics with public safety. These crime statistics are long-term trends in Winnipeg and in Manitoba, which is why we are taking action as a province to make our communities safer."
Ashleigh Ward has been impacted by meth in other ways. She feels treatment is key, calling addiction a disease.
"It's awful, it's terrible I've lost family members to it and friends," said Ward.
Provincial numbers also show rise
Manitoba saw a significant increase in crime in 2017.
An annual release of numbers on police-reported crime from Statistics Canada shows crime in the province rose nearly two and a half percent.
The majority of criminal activity was reported from rural areas of the province. Overall, rural Manitoba had a 42 per cent higher rate of crime than urban areas.
Canada’s national crime rate rose by one per cent. This is the third year there has been an increase.
Sexual assault and possession of stolen property had the largest increases.
With files from CTV Winnipeg
