By Angela Brown

N.B. still top of crime severity index for its size

Jul 23, 2018 | 4:31 PM

North Battleford is once again at the top of the Crime Severity Index for communities with populations over 10,000 in Canada, based on the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) report for 2017 released Monday.

The report indicated the overall crime rate basically stayed the same in North Battleford, although it did see a drop by 0.3 per cent. However the Crime Severity Index increased slightly by 1.9 per cent, mainly due to the number of break and enters and mischief complaints. The Violent Crime Severity Index increased by almost 14 per cent, reflecting increases in robbery and firearms-related offences.

“It’s always concerning when you’re up in the numbers,” Battleford’s RCMP detachment commander Insp. John Sutherland said “But I think what the public needs to know is and it’s important the fact that we did see our crime rate inch downwards.”

He said the RCMP is working to deal with individuals involved in serious crime with the support of the Crime Reduction Team and through targeted enforcement. 

Sutherland added it’s also important that social issues in the community are addressed since they impact crime rates also. To help with this issue, a Police and Crisis Team will be created in the near future so police and mental health workers can combine their efforts when responding to calls involving people dealing with mental health issues.  

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He added while the crime severity index did go up by 1.9 per cent, this is a small increase compared to the increases seen in the last two years. 

Sutherland remains optimistic with new policing strategies and support through the provincial RCMP team should lead to improvements in the future.  

North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater echoed many of Sutherland’s sentiments on the matter.

Bater added as a local government “we have limited ability to impact those social determinants, which is why we’ve been working hard over the last little while to engage our neighbours, the province and the federal government.”

He said North Battleford’s goal is to help develop a coalition of Indigenous, municipal, provincial and federal governments all working together “to address the causes of crime” in an effort to deal with the issue on a long-term basis.” 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW