WINNIPEG – The crime rate and the severity of crimes in Winnipeg and Manitoba have dropped significantly, a report from Statistics Canada says – but the city and province still rank highest for severity of violent crime.
The report appears to confirm the Winnipeg Police Service’s assertion Tuesday that crime is dropping in the city.
READ MORE: Winnipeg could soon shed it’s ‘crime capital’ title, police say
Manitoba was one of four provinces that recorded a 12 per cent drop in the crime severity index from 2012 to 2013, based on police-reported crime.
The drop was greater in Winnipeg, where the crime severity index dropped to 83.2 – a 15 per cent drop – and the actual crime rate went down to 5,368 crimes per 100,000 people, a drop of 16 per cent.
However, the violent crime severity index – a Statistics Canada figure that uses sentences to gauge the severity level of crime – is still worse in Winnipeg than in any other big city in Canada, and worse in Manitoba than in any other province.
Robbery was the largest contributor to Winnipeg’s violent crime index, said Nancy Walker of Statistics Canada. Homicide and sexual assault were the next largest contributors, she said.
In Winnipeg, the index dropped from a weighted score of 148.53 in 2012 to 119.85 in 2013. For comparison, in Thunder Bay, Ont., it dropped from 199.4 to 110.87, in Regina it dropped from 110,43 to 105.75, and in Saskatoon it dropped from 126.32 to 109.86.
In Manitoba, the index dropped from 155.86 in 2012 to 136.01 in 2013; in Saskatchewan, it dropped from 133.38 to 120.17.
The Canadian violent crime severity index is 73.7.
Winnipeg and Manitoba have improved in the Canada-wide ranking for all crime.
Saskatchewan’s crime severity index for 2013 is 125.73, worse than Manitoba’s 100.34.
In city statistics, Winnipeg’s crime severity index for 2013 is 83.17, which is better than Brantford, Ont., Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Vancouver.
But which city is the murder capital of Canada for 2013?
Regina’s 3.84 homicides per 100,000 population was worst in the country, with Winnipeg second at 3.24 homicides per 100,000 people. In 2012, Thunder Bay took the title, with 5.83 homicides per 100,000 people, compared to Winnipeg’s 4.17 per 100,000. Winnipeg was worst in 2011, with 5.03 homicides per 100,000 people.
Crime severity index, 2009-13:
Violent crime severity index, 2009-13:
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