A spike in violent crime in Belleville in the second quarter of this year is causing concern.
In the period including April, May, and June, there was one second degree murder charge, one of manslaughter, and two of attempt murder. In the second quarter of last year there were none.
Newly hired Chief of Police Murray Rodd tells Quinte News that he’s glad the city is in the process of hiring 18 new officers in the near future.
And he says increasing the number of criminal investigators will be a focus of his.
“We’re having those conversations now because, volume, if we’re not capturing intelligence as it comes to us it goes stale or it’s a news headline that we could have prevented. And anything we can do to prevent victimization of any kind, crimes against persons or property, we have to do that.”
Police Services Board member Jim O’Brien said the violent crime investigations are time consuming and costly and will put a strain on resources.
Meanwhile, the overall number of calls for service in the second quarter of the year declined by 559 over the same period last year.
