(rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By rdnewsNOW Staff

DECREASED FROM 2022

Red Deer ranks third in Canada on 2023 Crime Severity Index

Jul 25, 2024 | 11:22 AM

The latest police-reported crime statistics from Statistics Canada show that despite rating third in the country on the Crime Severity Index (CSI), Red Deer’s CSI improved slightly in 2023 with an 11 per cent decrease from the previous year.

The CSI is a score that takes into account both the number and severity of criminal acts. As an area-based index, the CSI does not account for the specific demographics of an area or how different groups of people may experience crime, harm and discrimination.

Red Deer’s 2023 CSI was the third highest at 146.9. Kamloops took the top spot at 165.3, followed by Chilliwack at 156.2.

Edmonton was ranked 11th place while Calgary was 25th.

Nationally, the CSI increased for its third consecutive year, this time by two per cent. Relatively large shifts in certain types of crime led to an increase in the Non-violent CSI, while the Violent CSI remained virtually unchanged, officials say.

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Statistics Canada says child pornography was the largest contributor to the change in the overall CSI for 2023. There were 21,417 incidents last year, an increase of 52 per cent. That includes a 14 per cent jump in child pornography cases in Alberta.

Officials note that this increase is due in part to more cases being forwarded to local police by specialized provincial internet child exploitation police units and the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre.

Fraud – especially identity theft and identity fraud – was the second-highest contributor to the CSI rankings, which rose by 12 per cent from 2022.

Violent crimes, which tend to have a larger impact on CSI scores per incident, were down. The country had a total of 778 homicides in 2023, falling by 14 per cent.

Use the following link to see the full report on police-reported crime statistics in Canada for 2023.

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