London found relatively safe city
Wed, April 22, 2009
London is a relatively safe city, a new way of measuring crime in Canada shows.
The violent crime severity index released by Statistics Canada yesterday gives London a rating of 78.5, below the national average of 94.6 and that of several other cities of comparable size.
"Our community is a very safe community when compared to other municipalities, even some smaller than we are," said police Chief Murray Faulkner .
Hamilton's violent crime index was 119.6, Waterloo's 64.4 and Windsor's 90.7.
"For a community of our size, it's a good benchmark. I'm pleased," Faulkner said.
The index tracks changes in the severity of reported crimes by assigning each offence a weight, with more serious crimes such as robberies and break-ins given higher rankings.
Traditional statistics have looked at the numbers of crimes, rather than rating their seriousness.
Those traditional statistics do not give a true reflection of a community's safety, Faulkner said. For example, they give the same weight to a break-in as a murder, he said.
They are also based on charges, which means rates can go up when police target certain crimes, Faulkner said.
The new ranking contains two sets of statistics -- the overall crime severity index and what Faulkner thinks is even more precise, the violent crime severity index.
"This is a way to give you a different perspective."
Even so, crime severity indexes won't necessarily give the complete picture, either, he said.
Because the severity index is based on court sentences, a province with tougher judges may appear to have more severe crime, Faulkner said, and that may be why Canada's western provinces have higher rates.
The severity index may not reflect the public's view of severe crimes, either, Faulkner added.
For example, he believes judges are not giving harsh enough sentences for marijuana grow operations.
The sentences make the crime appear less severe, he said.
"I'm not sure the courts reflect the sentiment of the public. I don't think three-month sentences reflect the impact on the public."
Statistics Canada says the index -- billed as the first of its kind anywhere -- suggests crime severity fell about 20% during the decade, driven by a 40% drop in break-ins.
In 2007, the most recent year for which information is available, the severity index for overall crime was 94.6, down from 119.1 in 1998.
The new index suggests serious criminal offences were declining well before the federal Conservative government launched its anti-crime campaign.
The Tories under Prime Minister Stephen Harper have campaigned on promises to get tough on crime and have introduced a number of bills in Parliament to address what they characterize as a growing problem.
Randy Richmond is a Free Press reporter.
randy.richmond@sunmedia.ca
VIOLENT CRIME SEVERITY INDEX
London: 78.5
Hamilton: 119.6
Waterloo: 64.4
Windsor: 90.7
Guelph: 49.7
Toronto: 138.6
The index tracks changes in the severity of reported crimes by assigning each offence a weight. A higher score indicates more violent crime in a community.
Source: Statistics Canada
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