Lethbridge has Canada’s highest Crime Severity Index

In 2019, a total of 16,178 crimes were reported to Lethbridge Police Service (LPS), which has been steadily rising since 2016.

Between 2018 and 2019, Lethbridge’s population grew by 1.72 per cent while the number of reported crimes grew by 5.4 per cent.

LPS Deputy Chief Scott Woods made the distinction that having a high CSI and being a “dangerous city” are two different things.

“When you look at that index, you have to understand too that some of the weights they put on are actually for property crimes, frauds, and even thefts are higher values than they put on common assaults. When you look at the totality of what we’re measuring and what we’re dealing with at the city, it’s not a real surprise to see that these rates are still trending high.”

With the drug trade being a prolific issue in the city, Woods says that has lead to a rise in “petty crimes” that do not make Lethbridge significantly more dangerous.

Another aspect is that LPS has been arresting more people.

“The implementation of the Crime Suppression Team within the City of Lethbridge has made a significant impact on the illegal drug trade and some of the other behaviours going on within our city. I think you also have to understand, with that, it means more arrests, more charges, there could be a fluctuation in the crime severity index going up.”

Mayor Chris Spearman told media that he and city council take the issue of crime very seriously, but he believes Lethbridge is not the dangerous place it is often made out to be.

“Lethbridge remains a safe city in which to live and do business. The report shows that in 2019, we were just one of four municipalities that reported no homicides. Lethbridge also recorded no homicides in 2018, so we’re talking about crime severity and petty crime that’s associated with drugs.”

Spearman was asked whether the city’s higher CSI ranking necessitates increased police funding.

He replied that this will be easier said than done.

“City council’s going to have a really tough job. We’re anticipating funding reductions from the province – we just received a letter yesterday from the Minister of Municipal Affairs that funding would be reduced.”

The mayor says the city will continue to advocate for additional funding to go towards areas such as policing and social services.

Provincially, the CSI picture is quite different. Among the 13 provinces and territories, Alberta had the sixth-highest CSI at 119.1 in 2019, rising five per cent from 2018.

In descending order, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba all ranked higher.

As shown in the chart below, Lethbridge surpassed the provincial and national averages for total crimes, violent crimes, and property crimes reported to police in 2019 as a percentage of population.

Crimes reported in 2019 per 100,000 residents. (Statistics Canada, compiled by Lethbridge News Now)

Nation-wide, Stats Canada says the CSI grew by five per cent in 2019, the fifth consecutive year where it increased.

The homicide rate in Alberta rose by 19 per cent in 2019 and shoplifting under $5,000 rose 37 per cent.

Some of the other key findings from a national perspective are as follows:

Child pornography +46%
Firearms offences +21%
Homicides against Indigenous peoples +19% (more than six times the rate of the non-Indigenous population)
Impaired driving +19%
Criminal harassment +17%
Fraud +10%
Sexual assaults +seven%
Methamphetamine +three%

by David Opinko

Lethbridge has Canada’s highest Crime Severity Index

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