(File photo/battlefordsNOW)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Crime town

North Battleford tops national crime stats again

Aug 4, 2022 | 4:11 PM

Given the increase of criminal activity over the past year in the Battlefords, the new numbers from Statistics Canada are unfortunately unsurprising.

The City of North Battleford was ranked first in Canada on the Crime Severity Index (CSI). This covered communities of 10,000 or more in 2021, which excludes of number of Saskatchewan towns and cities. North Battleford’s score of 480.72 is an 11.89 per cent increase from 2020 and the highest in five years for the city.

Thompson, Man., which had the highest CSI score in 2020, dropped second with a score of 438.49. Prince Albert had the second highest score in Saskatchewan at 263.4.

Most of the increase is due to property crime, such as break and enters and vehicle thefts, which have been prevalent in 2022 as well. North Battleford’s non-violent crime severity was up more than 22 per cent, while violent crimes dropped by roughly 7.5 per cent. The highest point of violent crime severity in the city came in 2019, 567.87, compared to 518.42 in 2021.

The overall scores for the rural detachment area for North Battleford was also up from 2020.

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The national trends went against the numbers in North Battleford. Canada as a whole saw more firearm offences for the seventh straight year, homicides were up for the third straight year and there was a national decrease in break-ins, robberies and theft of property worth $5,000 or less. Opioid offences and deaths were up across the board, however, with a 96 per cent increase in opioid-related deaths.

Focus made plain through findings

While the number doesn’t come as good news, several factors play a role in explaining the CSI score. These numbers come from the municipal and rural detachment area, which includes the Town of Battleford, rural municipalities, several First Nations and multiple lakeside communities.

Sgt. Chris Stephens spoke with battlefordsNOW, noting it’s important to take all three figures for North Battleford into account when it comes to Statistics Canada.

“One is an overall number, one talks to property crime and the other deals with persons crime and violent crime,” he said.

Despite the city having the highest CSI score in Canada once again, Stephens said it’s a misconception that North Battleford is an inherently dangerous community. Statistics Canada’s findings don’t account for the fact that the detachment area as a whole deals with a larger population than the city’s alone.

“It’s understanding the bigger picture of everything that’s going on and how it’s reported,” he said. “The majority of these crimes are not random acts of violence targeting random people. So, to think it’s dangerous to walk down the street because you might be attacked or robbed at random is [incorrect].”

“It’s no different than any other city, where you can’t say it will never happen. But for the majority, it’s not random.”

Stephens acknowledged that the detachment must continue to work on dealing with the uptick in property crimes seen over the past 18 months. This summer, breaking and entering has been commonplace, in both the city and rural areas.

“Vehicle thefts were a big one in the area, along with break-ins,” he said. “It just reinforces what we’re trying to work towards.”

The numbers for North Battleford, both for rural and municipal incidents of crime, are available here, with the use of a drop-down menu.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW