What does DTK need?

[tomh009]

The homicide rate in Waterloo Region is below the national and provincial average; in Ontario, that average is dropping whereas in Waterloo Region it has been rising sharply.

You are cherry-picking numbers. For example, the article you link to shows a chart with a jump in homicides from 2019 to 2020 (I think from 5 in 2019 to 8 in 2020). But then, right below the chart, it says that there were only two homicides in 2021. That's about 80% lower than the national and provincial rates.

Really, the homicide rates are so low that a single year in our region is not really statistically meaningful. Even for Ontario, a drop from one year to next can't really be considered a trend, need longer-term data for that.

Compare that to a "nice" US city like Portland (45x our homicide rate) or Seattle (20x) -- both about the size of Waterloo Region -- and the reality is that our city (and region) really is safe. We absolutely have problems we need to work on, but the truth is that we don't need to fear for our lives walking downtown.