WINNIPEG -- Winnipeg police have a new mapping tool that shows the majority of calls for service officers respond to every week.
The Calls for Service map will allow people to look at the last 10 weeks of nearly all of the calls for service that police respond to. It can be sorted by neighbourhood, as well as by the type of incident. It can’t be sorted by a specific address.
Gord Perrier, deputy police chief of the Winnipeg Police Service, says only 20 per cent of calls for service are actually crime related. The other 80 per cent of calls for service are non-criminal -- things like missing persons, well-being checks, traffic concerns, and intoxicated persons.
This new map will give the public a chance to see where those types of calls are happening.
“This is set out to be really transparent as to what’s going on in your neighbourhood outside of crime, but certainly with a public safety focus,” said Perrier.
The other data mapping system used by Winnipeg police, called “CrimeMaps” looks at crime trends and has a three-month delay in information.
The Calls for Service map is more current, covering the last 10 weeks of calls.
New data is added to the map every Monday. The only calls not included are those related to investigations that call for a higher degree of security, such as homicides.
Police say the information will increase awareness, understanding and transparency for the work officers are doing each day.
“It also does enable stakeholder agencies such as the Bear Clan, or another agency as they move forward their mandate to be able to look at information and have a picture as to what’s going on in neighbourhoods where they are operating,” said Perrier.
