Moncton ranks 3rd in crime rates in Canada for 2021, according to StatsCan data
CBC
A new report from Statistics Canada reveals Moncton had the third-highest police-reported crime rate in Canada in 2021.
Among metropolitan cities, only Kelowna, B.C., and Lethbridge, Alta., had higher crime rates in 2021, according to the Aug. 2 report.
The traditional crime rate has been used to measure police-reported crime in Canada and is expressed as a rate per 100,000 people. The crime rate is calculated by summing all Criminal Code incidents reported by the police and dividing by the population count.
In Moncton, the rate jumped seven per cent, from 8,588 per 100,000 people in 2020 to 9,168 in 2021
Moncton also ranks fourth in terms of crime severity index, or CSI, which increased by nine per cent.
Warren Silver, an analyst from Statistics Canada, said the CSI increase was because of more reported severe crimes.
"So basically we're saying crime is nine per cent more serious in 2021 than it was in 2020. And what's really driving that increase is an increase in breaking and entering, as well as sexual assault Level 1," he said.
Sexual assault is ranked based on levels of severity by Statistics Canada. Level 1 is the least severe, including any violation of sexual integrity of the victim. Level 2 sexual assault includes a weapon, bodily harm or threats with a weapon. Level 3 is also known as aggravated sexual assault, which involves sexual assault that wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the victim.
The numbers only include police-reported crimes, and the report mentions that any increases in 2021 may be due to a decrease of reported crimes in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moncton councillors recently held a special meeting to debate a public safety plan in June, which included 22 recommendations with no timelines or costs.
Among those are clearing tent cities within 72 hours, and spending more money to boost the number of RCMP officers in the region.
Kevin Walby, a criminologist from the University of Winnipeg, said increasing the police budget is not a solution to these numbers.
"To increase the police budget more, it's just never going to work. "
"The only way that we can decrease transgression and actually produce safer, healthier communities is to fund community and social development, fund non-punitive approaches to remedying transgression and harm."
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