Lethbridge still has Canada’s highest Crime Severity Index, but crime down in 2020
LETHBRIDGE, AB – Statistics Canada has released new data on police-reported crime and the associated Crime Severity Indexes (CSI).
Across the country, the rate of police-reported crime as a percentage of the population was down 9.8 per cent, or 5,301 incidents, in 2020 compared to 2019.
The agency chalks much of that up due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Stay-at-home orders and other restrictions meant more people were at home for longer periods of time, while fewer people were out publicly, reducing opportunities for many types of crime. At the same time, the pandemic has resulted in Canadians increasingly turning to the Internet to stay connected with others and to facilitate work, school, shopping and health care, increasing the risk for different types of criminal offences related to the Internet.”