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This was a featured article in todays Winnipeg Sun:  
 
Winnipeg's reputation as one of Canada's crime capitals is going national.  
 
A feature story published in this month's Maclean's magazine pegs Winnipeg as among the top three high-crime urban centres in Canada, following close behind Regina and Saskatoon.  
 
Mayor Sam Katz doesn't downplay the figures used in the article, but said yesterday neither he nor anyone needs a magazine to show the city has work to do to improve its safety.  
 
TOP THREE  
 
"There are many surveys in which you would want to be in the top three. This isn't one of them," Katz said. "And I'm hoping that in the next survey that comes out, you'll see a drastic change. And if we were sixth or seventh, I would still tell you we have a problem with crime.  
 
 
 
 
"And I'll tell you something else - using other cities that have more crime isn't exactly a great barometer, either. That isn't the yardstick you want."  
 
The magazine based its rankings on 2006 per capita crime rates provided by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, particularly murders, sexual assaults, aggravated assaults, robberies, break-and-enters and auto thefts.  
 
In an overall "high-crime" category, Maclean's lists Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg in a dead heat at between 146.3% and 144.6% above the national average.  
 
The report comes out at precisely the same time as thousands of tourists are wandering downtown Winnipeg for the Brier.  
 
Many of them said yesterday crime isn't the first thing they think of when taking to city streets.  
 
John Toswell, a visitor from North Bay, Ont., said the city doesn't strike him as any less safe than other places.  
 
"Every now and again there's a feeling and you're turning around to look behind you," Toswell said. "I wouldn't stay away, though, just because Maclean's said it's crime-ridden."  
 
In addition to its rankings, the feature includes a story focusing on Winnipeg's burgeoning street-drug trade and police efforts to curb it. It also takes in-depth looks at the North End and Point Douglas areas, where drugs and crime abound.  
 
"Buying crack cocaine around here is like ordering pizza, except they arrive faster," Sgt. Norbert Bauer is quoted as telling the magazine.  
 
Katz admitted crime is a problem, but said several emerging or proposed tools could help tackle and fix it. Among them - the Crimestat crime-tracking website, a recent doubling in size of a police stolen-auto unit, cops' new licence plate-reading technology used to locate stolen vehicles, an in-development downtown video surveillance pilot project and potential use of "shot-spotters" that trace the origin of gunfire.  
 
"The first thing you have to do is admit you have a problem. I admitted that a long time ago," said Katz. "It is what it is, and it's up to us to change it."  
 
 
 
Scary facts, I see an opportunity for Brandon to entice people to work, live and travel to here, after all we don't have the crime title! In this day and age where crime is such a concern, Brandon should be proud of a safer family focused place and push that, IMO.