Halton is the safest regional municipality in Canada with a population over 100,000, based on numbers reported in Statistics Canada’s 2011 Crime Severity Index released earlier this week.
 
According to the report, when compared to the 49 communities with populations greater than 100,000 across Canada, Halton has:
 
• The lowest overall Crime Severity Index (33.6 in 2011, down from  37.0 in 2010);
• The lowest Non-Violent Crime Severity Index (35.7 in 2011 down from 40.0 in 2010), and
• The second lowest Violent Crime Severity Index (28.2 in 2011 compared to 28.0 in 2010). 
 
Halton’s lower index values are consistent with crime trends across Canada, as Statistics Canada reported that the overall national Crime Severity Index was the lowest it has been in 40 years.
 
“These latest figures from Statistics Canada speak volumes about the effective partnership between our Service and the community to prevent, deter and reduce crime,” said Acting Chief Andrew Fletcher.  “It is an honour to have our Maclean’s magazine ranking as the safest regional municipality in Canada be confirmed by hard crime data provided by every police service in the nation.”
 
Acting Chief Fletcher said that despite Halton’s low crime severity, there is always room for improvement.  In particular, he cited traffic safety, the victimization of seniors, youth crime, consumer fraud, and domestic violence as particular areas of focus for the Service.
 
“Statistics don’t always reflect the very real impact crime has on people in our community every day. That’s why as a Service, we don’t simply rely on the numbers, but rather we focus on building positive relationships with the people we serve as one of the best indicators of how well we are serving this community.”
 
Statistics Canada introduced the Crime Severity Index in 2009 as a measure of severity of crimes committed in Canada.  Crimes are assigned “seriousness weights” which are determined by the number of people convicted of the crime who spend time in jail, and how much jail time those individuals serve. To calculate the Crime Severity Index, the number of incidents for each offence is multiplied by the weight of that offence.
 
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