Big picture shows city Crime Statistics Index not the worst

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on August 5, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge may be ranked No. 1 on the 2021 Statistics Canada Crime Statistics Index but as police chief Shahin Mehdizadeh told media Tuesday the statistics includes communities in the surrounding area.

A table at the Stats Can website listing 35 municipalities across Canada includes Lethbridge but is missing other Alberta communities.

Several of those communities have higher CSIs than Lethbridge

The city’s overall CSI rating compiled by Statistics Canada of 128.65 topped the nation on that table but that figure was down 7.13 per cent from 2020,

The city had a CSI rating for violent crime of 114.25 which was a 2.69 per cent increase over 2020.

For non-violent crime, Lethbridge had a CSI of 133.53. Numbers, the police chief said on Tuesday, were on a downward trend.

According to StatsCan, CSI “measures changes in the level of severity of crime in Canada from year to year. In the index, all crimes are assigned a weight based on their seriousness. The level of seriousness is based on actual sentences handed down by the courts in all provinces and territories. More serious crimes are assigned higher weights, less serious offences lower weights. As a result, more serious offences have a greater impact on changes in the index.”

When other communities are looked at, the CSI picture here looks brighter.

In 2021, the the municipality of Blood Tribe (Standoff) had a CSI of 565.20, a decrease of 5.42 per cent since 2020.

Its CSI for violent crime was 585.18, a drop of 16.16 per cent from 2020.

Standoff had a CSI of 556.68 for non-violent crime in 2021, a drop of 0.61 per cent, according to StatsCan.

The Piikani Nation had a CSI of 529.04, a drop of 17.99 per cent. Its violent crime CSI was 540.25, down 34.85 per cent from 2020. The non-violent crime CSI was 523.76, a drop of 9.28 per cent from 2020.

Coaldale had a CSI of 44.51 in 2021, a drop of 27.94 per cent from 2020. It’s violent crime CSI was 27.67, which was down 57.68 per cent from 2020. The town’s non-violent CSI was 50.46, a drop of 16.36 per cent.

The Raymond/Magrath area had a CSI of 41.42, up 8.43 per cent from 2020. It’s violent crime CSI of 60.96 was up 77.67 per cent from 2020. Non-violent crime was down 31.21 per cent for a CSI of 34.29.

Taber had a CSI of 67.37 in 2021, down 6.38 per cent from 2020. Its CSI for violent crime was 70.66, a jump of 28.50 per cent from 2020. Non violent crime, however, dropped 15. 24 per cent to 66.03.

Picture Butte had a CSI of 36.97, a hike of 2.41 per cent from 2020. Its violent crime CSI was 24.77, down 30.85 from ’20. The non-violent CSI was 41.26, a jump of 14.23 per cent from 2020.

Medicine Hat had an overall CSI of 81.93, up 3.39 per cent. The gas city’s violent crime CSI was 83.01, a jump of 21.56 per cent.

Calgary’s CSI was 74.35, Edmonton’s 101.18.

The town of Lloydminster had a CSI of 203.86 and a violent crime CSI of 168.05. It’s non Violent CSI in 2021 was 212.67.

The city of Red Deer had a total CSI of 176.39, up 2.71 per cent from 2020. It’s violent crime CSI was 175.65 in 2021, an increase of 19.03 per cent. Non-violent crime CSI in Red Deer was 176.24, which was down 2.11 per cent.

The city of Airdrie had a CSI of 122.70

The CSI “Includes all Criminal Code violations including traffic, as well as drug violations and all federal statutes,” says StatsCan.

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