By Karthiga Dharmananda
To get a better idea about crime in the Centennial area, you can view crime data at: https://data.torontopolice.on.ca/pages/maps. The data through this site is quite interesting to look at. The auto theft in all of 43 Division for 2019 was 156, whereas for Centennial it was approximately 14. Break and enters for 43 Division are 278 whereas for Centennial it is 13.
From looking at this data further, there was no striking pattern for these crimes as they happened in various months throughout 2019. It is important also to note that the data collected is based on people filing police reports. After speaking with a 43 Division officer in August, the message I was told was to report any and all crimes regardless of how petty you may feel they are. Even if it was only $2 that was taken from your car, you should report this. City Councillor Jennifer McKelvie also posted a similar message on her Facebook page urging people to report petty crimes.
Decisions regarding areas that get more patrolling at night are all made through data that police receive. More people reporting crimes allows police to properly assess an area to determine if more patrolling should be done.
The process to report a crime is quite simple and can be done online at https://www.torontopolice.on.ca/core/. If you are not comfortable using a computer to report a crime, then you can also call the non-emergency phone number at 416-808-2222.