The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics released its annual comparison of police-reported crime statistics for 2022.
The report compares police-reported crime across Canada’s Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA). It looks at total crime incidents (Crime Rate) and an index that considers the severity of crimes committed (Crime Severity Index).
Regina, who has been near the top of the rankings in previous years, saw year-over-year declines in many crime categories and rankings in 2022.
Regina’s total crime rate for 2022 declined slightly compared to 2021 to 7,543 reported crimes per 100,000 population, putting the Queen City with the seventh highest crime rate of the 35 CMAs.
In front of Regina was Kelowna (10,532), Lethbridge (9,358), Winnipeg (8,757), Moncton (8,206), Saskatoon (8,079), Edmonton (7,884).
In the Regina CMA, in 2022, the Total Crime Severity Index declined five per cent over 2021. The Regina CMA ranked 5th among CMAs in Total Crime Severity.
For Crime Severity, Winnipeg led the country with a crime severity index of 136.6 followed by Kelowna (128), Lethbridge (119), and Saskatoon (113.5)
Deputy Police Chief Lorilee Davies said she feels the report shows progress for the Regina Police Service.
“I think generally what we see is that crime and crime severity, nationally, has gone up in Canada for 2022,” she said. “The good news from a local level is Regina has seen some decreases in some areas.”
Davies noted that there is still work to do.
“We don’t ever want to be in the open top ten, but the fact that we are making some small in-roads compared to come of the other jurisdictions in Canada.”
She said that the report wouldn’t change how the police operate or focus.
“This really gives us a chance to see ourselves in comparison to other jurisdictions in Canada,” she said. “I think we are doing some things right. The fact our number showed smaller increases. Based on the information, we are not going to change the way that we do business. Certainly, there is an opportunity to learn from best practices in other jurisdictions that maybe have seen smaller increases in areas.”
“Overall, it doesn’t change the course of the work that we do in the city. We know there is a lot of work to be done.”
Definition: The “Crime Rate” is a measure of the number of crimes per 100,000 population. Using this measure enables comparisons of crime counts over time and between regions.
Definition: The “Crime Severity Index” accounts for the seriousness of crime by “weighting” crime types based on conviction rates and lengths of sentences – a homicide, therefore, has a much greater effect on the CSI than a single theft. However, high-volume, low-severity crime types can still have a substantial impact on the CSI.
