Surly Hamiltonian has been tracking the homicides in Hamilton for 2013. This makes it easier to refer back to and murder is an especially important statistic for crime. Other stats can be juked by the police (think of the television show The Wire) but murders are more difficult. Hamilton is relatively small and with a low number of murders so the number of murders per year will jump around a lot.
So far four murders have been reported in Hamilton (compared to five in all of 2012) although no one was charged in a murder at a Tisdale and Main apartment building so far and few details have been reported, so whether that is a murder is open to interpretation (are self-defence cases murder?).
Tim Bosma of Ancaster has certainly been murdered. However the question for statistics of Hamilton murders, is whether he was murdered within the boundaries of Hamilton. This CBC article has a map with various locations associated with the crime identified, included Bosma's rural Ancaster residence. Bosma went for a test drive with his truck, however as of yet, it hasn't been reported when and where he was killed. Bosma's residence isn't that far from the Hamilton boundary, so it is possible that he may have been killed outside of Hamilton. It may be years before the case goes to trial and it is possible it may never be known exactly where he was killed, apart from the perpetrators.
If Bosma was murdered in Hamilton, that would mean we have already had the same number of murders as last year, with well over a year to go.
Showing posts with label hamilton police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hamilton police. Show all posts
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Suspended Hamilton Cop Watch: Ryan Gagnon
More Lower City Fires Caused by Smoking?
The Hamilton police have released this about the fire on February 20th at 249 Cannon Street East:
Hamilton Police are investigating the death of a male person during a fire that occurred at 249 Cannon Street East in the early morning hours of February 20th, 2013.
On Wednesday, February 20th, 2013, at approximately 4:00 a.m. a 911 call was received for a fire at 249 Cannon Street East. A 24- year-old male tenant suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital where he later died from his injuries. All other residents were able to safely flee the residence.
At this time investigators are working with the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office to determine the cause of the fire. A post mortem is planned for the deceased male to determine the cause of death. Next of kin have been notified however, the male’s name will not be released.
Investigators are interested in speaking to anyone who may have been in the area of 249 Cannon Street East at the time of the fire. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Randy Kovacsik of the Homicide Unit at 905-546-3836 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477
UPDATE………..February 25th, 2013
As a result of the investigation and cooperation between the Hamilton Police Service Homicide Unit, Arson Unit, Ontario Fire Marshall and the Ontario Coroners Office it has been concluded that the 24-year-old victim died as a direct result of smoke inhalation and injuries directly related to the fire.
Suspicious injuries that were originally noted and reported to the victim’s body were determined to have been sustained during rescue measures and did not contribute to his death.
The Fire Marshall has determined that the fire originated inside of the victim’s bedroom and no foul play is suspected. The investigation has now been turned over to The Ontario Fire Marshall who will continue to investigate to determine the cause of the fire. All future questions from the media should be directed to the Ontario Fire Marshall's office.
So not the first murder of 2013. I've made the point before that there seem to be a lot of fires in the lower city compared to the rest of the city and that a lot of them seem to be caused by smoking. Given that the fire started in the subject's bedroom around 4 am, I'm speculating that smoking is a good guess for the cause. A increased payoff for public health smoking cessation programs besides the benefits of not smoking would seem to be less fires in the lower city and hopefully lower fire department costs.
I know that fire insurance depends on smoking, however given the admittedly anecdotal evidence from following fire causes in Hamilton over the past year, it would seem to me that fire insurance should be at least double for houses with smokers versus non-smokers. Who knows, maybe it is already.
Hamilton Police are investigating the death of a male person during a fire that occurred at 249 Cannon Street East in the early morning hours of February 20th, 2013.
On Wednesday, February 20th, 2013, at approximately 4:00 a.m. a 911 call was received for a fire at 249 Cannon Street East. A 24- year-old male tenant suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital where he later died from his injuries. All other residents were able to safely flee the residence.
At this time investigators are working with the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office to determine the cause of the fire. A post mortem is planned for the deceased male to determine the cause of death. Next of kin have been notified however, the male’s name will not be released.
Investigators are interested in speaking to anyone who may have been in the area of 249 Cannon Street East at the time of the fire. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Randy Kovacsik of the Homicide Unit at 905-546-3836 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477
UPDATE………..February 25th, 2013
As a result of the investigation and cooperation between the Hamilton Police Service Homicide Unit, Arson Unit, Ontario Fire Marshall and the Ontario Coroners Office it has been concluded that the 24-year-old victim died as a direct result of smoke inhalation and injuries directly related to the fire.
Suspicious injuries that were originally noted and reported to the victim’s body were determined to have been sustained during rescue measures and did not contribute to his death.
The Fire Marshall has determined that the fire originated inside of the victim’s bedroom and no foul play is suspected. The investigation has now been turned over to The Ontario Fire Marshall who will continue to investigate to determine the cause of the fire. All future questions from the media should be directed to the Ontario Fire Marshall's office.
So not the first murder of 2013. I've made the point before that there seem to be a lot of fires in the lower city compared to the rest of the city and that a lot of them seem to be caused by smoking. Given that the fire started in the subject's bedroom around 4 am, I'm speculating that smoking is a good guess for the cause. A increased payoff for public health smoking cessation programs besides the benefits of not smoking would seem to be less fires in the lower city and hopefully lower fire department costs.
I know that fire insurance depends on smoking, however given the admittedly anecdotal evidence from following fire causes in Hamilton over the past year, it would seem to me that fire insurance should be at least double for houses with smokers versus non-smokers. Who knows, maybe it is already.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Police Spending Juggernaut and Festivals
I was interested to read this CBC Hamilton article entitled "Policing Costs Crippling Festival of Friends, Organizer Says", with the organizer being Loren Lieberman (incidentally the Mercantis spokesman for their casino efforts).
I've made posts here before about Hamilton police chief Glenn De Caire's 2013 budget demands which are way above inflation and includes asking for 20 additional officers and one civilian. Lieberman is quoted in the article:
"A $40,000 increase in policing is about 10 per cent of our cash operations,” Loren Lieberman told CBC Hamilton.
and
“It just doesn't make sense,” Lieberman said. “It's a 700 per cent increase in the contracted position from the cops.”
I find this interesting because the Hamilton police force seems to have morphed into an entity that only seeks to increase revenue to itself and its size, whether it be by increased funding directly from the tax payer, shaking down festivals for supposed required protection or writing more tickets.
With regards to the festivals and the police around, I've noticed some weird patterns. Last year for Supercrawl I noticed a fair number of officers on James North at midday. At the time I thought, that seems to be a waste of money, as there is no need for them right then. Considering the chief's ask for extra officers, perhaps he should redo his schedule, have fewer police during the day at festivals or also just make covering festivals part of his budget with his current staffing.
Another related police spending issue is the mounted unit. I've seen them patrolling John Street North between King and King William this winter during the weekday morning for no particular reason, where a foot patrol certainly would have done the same job. I'm sure those hours could have been cut and reassigned to a festival.
I've made posts here before about Hamilton police chief Glenn De Caire's 2013 budget demands which are way above inflation and includes asking for 20 additional officers and one civilian. Lieberman is quoted in the article:
"A $40,000 increase in policing is about 10 per cent of our cash operations,” Loren Lieberman told CBC Hamilton.
and
“It just doesn't make sense,” Lieberman said. “It's a 700 per cent increase in the contracted position from the cops.”
I find this interesting because the Hamilton police force seems to have morphed into an entity that only seeks to increase revenue to itself and its size, whether it be by increased funding directly from the tax payer, shaking down festivals for supposed required protection or writing more tickets.
With regards to the festivals and the police around, I've noticed some weird patterns. Last year for Supercrawl I noticed a fair number of officers on James North at midday. At the time I thought, that seems to be a waste of money, as there is no need for them right then. Considering the chief's ask for extra officers, perhaps he should redo his schedule, have fewer police during the day at festivals or also just make covering festivals part of his budget with his current staffing.
Another related police spending issue is the mounted unit. I've seen them patrolling John Street North between King and King William this winter during the weekday morning for no particular reason, where a foot patrol certainly would have done the same job. I'm sure those hours could have been cut and reassigned to a festival.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Hamilton Police MOAR! Again
Hamilton Police Chief Glen De Caire is looking for a 5.25% increase in police funding for 2013 according to this Spec article. Of course that comes off of an increase of 3% in 2011 and 5% in 2010. Those are increases that are pretty much out of whack with governments in the Western world, but De Caire doesn't seem to really care about Hamilton taxpayers money. Reading the comments on the article, interestingly no one seems to be on the side of more police funding. OK looking again there's one guy.
De Caire is asking for 20 extra officers and an extra civilian employee. This seems somewhat strange considering there is no crime epidemic in Hamilton, plus Hamilton has an aging population. I would be curious to know what the increase would be without the extra officers. Guessing around $100,000 for all in costs for the officers would be around $2 million per year. That would hire a lot of bus drivers.
This info from the article was also interesting "Last month, the mounted patrol unit became a permanent fixture within the force. The total budget for that unit for 2013 is $658,810 — up 4.08 per cent from last year." I see the horse unit downtown often and frankly nothing much seems to accomplished, especially compared with an officer unmounted just standing around. Plus the horses aren't much use in winter weather. This is one program that needs to be cut.
Considering De Caire's history of asking for budget increases, and not protecting the public purse, I've lost confidence in him. I think the Hamilton police services board needs to ask him to resign. There's far better uses for this money, whether it is lower taxes or better public transit. Hamilton police officers are quite expensive (check out the latest sunshine list for the city) and adding more officers isn't a good use of public money.
De Caire is asking for 20 extra officers and an extra civilian employee. This seems somewhat strange considering there is no crime epidemic in Hamilton, plus Hamilton has an aging population. I would be curious to know what the increase would be without the extra officers. Guessing around $100,000 for all in costs for the officers would be around $2 million per year. That would hire a lot of bus drivers.
This info from the article was also interesting "Last month, the mounted patrol unit became a permanent fixture within the force. The total budget for that unit for 2013 is $658,810 — up 4.08 per cent from last year." I see the horse unit downtown often and frankly nothing much seems to accomplished, especially compared with an officer unmounted just standing around. Plus the horses aren't much use in winter weather. This is one program that needs to be cut.
Considering De Caire's history of asking for budget increases, and not protecting the public purse, I've lost confidence in him. I think the Hamilton police services board needs to ask him to resign. There's far better uses for this money, whether it is lower taxes or better public transit. Hamilton police officers are quite expensive (check out the latest sunshine list for the city) and adding more officers isn't a good use of public money.
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