Like Montreal, Laval recorded a sharp increase in crimes against the person last year, new data released on Wednesday reveals.
Posted at 1:13 p.m.
The annual report of the Service de police de Laval (SPL) reports a “peak” of this type of crime last year, up 25% compared to the previous year, a period marked by the pandemic.
Île Jésus is not spared from the phenomenon of the increase in armed violence either. Earlier this week, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal indicated that the number of events where a firearm had been discharged had more than doubled in 2021 compared to the previous year.
In Laval, these events were also on the rise in 2020 and 2021, compared to 2019. That year, the SPL had recorded 18 firearm discharge episodes, while this number climbed to 40 in 2020, then to 42 last year.
The SPL also specifies that the shots are mainly fired in public places, and mostly in the Chomedey district, a hot sector where several shootings have still occurred in recent weeks.
Domestic violence also on the rise
At a time when several organizations were concerned about an increase in the number of victims of domestic violence in the metropolis, the SPL also reports a sad peak in this category, with an increase of 11% compared to 2020.
Note, on the other hand, the SPL had then recorded its lowest number of cases of domestic violence in five years, when the confinements were repeated.
“From 2020 to 2021, sexual offences, cases of criminal harassment and uttering threats are particularly marked by increases and peaks in the context of domestic violence. Additional data show that the number of domestic violence interventions carried out by the Social Emergency Division also increased in 2021, ”indicates the SPL in its annual report.