UM TodayCrime rates – UM Today

CBC Manitoba: New machete law could impact “trendiness” of the weapon, says criminology professor

Fiona Odlum — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 20:32:30 +0000

New rules governing the sales of machetes and other long-blade weapons in Manitoba come into effect Tuesday.

Retailers are required to keep the items stored in a way so shoppers can’t access them without assistance.

Businesses are also required to sell only to adults with photo identification and to keep records of their sales for two years.

Professor of Criminology Frank Cormier joined guest host Chloe Friesen to discuss the new law, follow the link to ear the conversation on CBC Manitoba.

Winnipeg Sun: Remnants of COVID disruption could be driving rural Manitoba homicide spike: prof

Fiona Odlum — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 21:32:08 +0000

A significant spike in rural homicides this year is raising alarm bells in rural Manitoba, but a local criminology professor says the numbers we are seeing might not be cause for panic just yet.

“The questions are all the same, it’s, ‘what’s going on?’ And generally the answer is probably nothing is going on,” University of Manitoba Instructor of Sociology and Criminology Frank Cormier said on Friday.

“The vast majority of homicides are disorganized kinds of crimes, it’s different if there’s a gang war going on and people are knocking off their rivals, but the majority of homicides in Manitoba are interpersonal issues.”

To read the entire article, please follow the link in The Hamilton Spectator.

Winnipeg Free Press: Anxiety attack Majority of Manitobans fear witnessing shoplifting, violence in stores: poll

Fiona Odlum — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 20:47:24 +0000

The Probe poll found that racialized respondents were most likely to express concern about being attacked by shoplifters and to avoid stores known to be plagued by shoplifting.

Lori Wilkinson, a University of Manitoba sociology and criminology professor who specializes in migration, describes it as “shopping while Black.”

Racialized and Indigenous people are likely tracked more by security, she said. They’re also commonly found working retail jobs, which exposes them to shoplifting and potential violence, she said.

Racialized people are less likely to find jobs that offer the same pay and benefits following university graduation than their non-racialized and non-Indigenous counterparts, Statistics Canada reported last year.

To read the full story, please visit the Winnipeg Free Press.

Winnipeg Free Press: Governments need to work together in addressing root causes of crime: Gillingham

Fiona Odlum — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 20:36:07 +0000

Prof. Frank Cormier, a University of Manitoba criminologist, cautioned against reading too deeply into increases and decreases in the statistics year-over-year.

“Generally, it all goes back to the same root cause, that is sometimes magnified by things like the pandemic, or different drugs being in vogue or more or less available,” he said.

Crime in Winnipeg is, largely, tied to entrenched economic and social problems, he said.

To read the full article, please visit The Winnipeg Free Press.