“Distressing” number of homicide investigations last year for OPP
Firearms a factor in many cases
Some disconcerting numbers from the OPP.
Officers were called in to investigate 42 homicides last year (2018) up from 35 the year before. It’s a level not seen since 2010 when the OPP investigated 51 homicides.
“To deliberately take another life is the most personal affront to public safety that we know. It is distressing to see an increase in the number of murders being committed in communities throughout Ontario.”
— Deputy Commissioner Rick BARNUM, Provincial Commander – OPP Investigations and Organized Crime
Firearms were the primary cause of death in 18 OPP death investigations – higher than the previous two years combined (six in 2016; 10 in 2017) and seven more than in the record year of 2010.
