The Ottawa Homicide Project has been conducted as a collaborative effort between the Victimology Research Centre (VRC) at Algonquin College, Crime Prevention Ottawa, the Ottawa Police Service and the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime.
Purpose
Every homicide is a tragedy for a family and our community. This report provides an overview of homicide cases in Ottawa from 2010-2020. It is intended to inform community stakeholders about patterns and evolving trends to assist with planning prevention and meeting the needs of people affected by homicide.
Methods
The analysis was conducted by reviewing media reports of all homicides in Ottawa from 2010-2020. Cases were added to a spreadsheet where key information was collected on each homicide, including the age, gender, and ethnocultural backgrounds of victims and known suspects, the locations of each offence, the use of a weapon, and other contextual data such as the relationship between the victim and suspect. Our dataset was then independently verified by two Staff Sergeants with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) to ensure that our information was aligned with police records. Following this verification, addresses for each case were uploaded into ArcGIS to develop crime maps for geographic analysis.
Findings
Our findings include information on prevalence, demographics, context, partner and family homicide, weapons, geography, characteristics of suspects, and unsolved cases.