By Roger White

Good and bad news for N.B. with latest crime index numbers

Jul 24, 2017 | 3:00 PM

It’s a good news, bad news scenario for the City of North Battleford as Statistics Canada released its report on police-reported crime in 2016.

The good news is North Battleford is no longer number one in Canada in the Violent Crime Severity Index. The city had that distinction every year since 2009 when StatsCan began publishing the numbers.

The city also saw an eight per cent reduction in violent crime which Mayor Ryan Bater said is pleasing to see.

“City council is very pleased to see a great reduction in violent crime in the community,” Bater said. “Not only did our crime rate go down but it did so when the crime rate in Saskatchewan actually increased by nine per cent in 2016 so it’s pretty amazing.”

Bater said he believes the reduction can be attributed to many factors including increased patrols and added emphasis on community safety through the Community Safety Strategy.

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Insp. John Sutherland of the Battleford RCMP said while dropping from the number one ranking to number two in the country is encouraging, much more needs to be done to decrease violent crime numbers.

“We (RCMP) are working very hard to engage the community and to work with our partners to open dialogue,” Sutherland said. “We are also continuing to address the social addiction issues and other matters that affect the Crime Severity Index.”

However the picture isn’t as rosy when it comes to non-violent crimes in the city.

Non-violent crime increased by 15 per cent in 2016 and North Battleford remains the number one community in Canada for the Non-Violent Crime Severity Index.

Bater said while the increased numbers are concerning there are some positives to be taken from the report.

“We certainly don’t like that fact that the non-violent numbers went up,” Bater said. “But it is encouraging that most of these crimes are certainly preventable.”

Sutherland noted the top five violations which contribute to the Non-Violent Crime Index in the City of North Battleford are breaking and entering (19.3 per cent) mischief (13.3) fraud (5.8) robbery (5.0) theft under five thousand dollars(4.6) and motor vehicle infractions (4.3)

“It’s interesting to note that only three categories increased in 2016 and they were break and enter, fraud and motor vehicle infractions,” Sutherland said.

Bater said he believes if everyone works together the non-violent crime rate will show a better result in 2017.

“I think it is very important that we educate the public on how to be more proactive in preventing crime in our city and I suspect we will be initiating something very soon.”
 

roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW