Province says crime is an issue around CTS sites, but data shows that’s not the case in Kitchener

published on August 23, 2024 in CBC News

Calls to police about several types of crime and delinquency have decreased in downtown Kitchener and Guelph since supervised consumption and treatment services (CTS) sites opened in the neighbourhoods, police data suggests.

And experts who have studied the sites say the research shows they don’t increase crime.

CBC News used police crime map data to compare calls for service for seven different types of police incidents from January through July 2024 with statistics from the same period the year prior to the opening of the two sites.

The incidents included assaults, robberies, and property damage.

In downtown Kitchener, it found that the number of calls to police, about five of those seven types of incidents, was down compared to the same period prior to the opening of the CTS sites – and those decreases were even greater than those seen in the city as a whole…