File photo of the Town of Coaldale sign. (Photo: LNN)

By Sarah Jones

Coaldale ranked as safest community in Alberta among comparable sized municipalities

Jun 22, 2023 | 1:10 PM

COALDALE, AB – While no community is immune to crime, recent findings from the Town of Coaldale found that, compared to other municipalities of similar size, it ranks as the safest in Alberta.

The 2022 Comparative Analysis, which compared neighboring towns of approximate population, found that crime severity in Coaldale ranked the lowest among other similarly-sized markets.

The towns included within the analysis were Edson, Ponoka, Lethbridge, Lethbridge County, Innisfail, Drumheller, Blackfalds, and Taber.

According to Statistics Canada, the Crime Severity Index (CSI) scores are based off the number of crimes reported by police in each jurisdiction, as well as the relative seriousness of the crime.

For example, if a jurisdiction has a high proportion of less serious crimes, it will have a lower CSI score. If the jurisdiction has a high proportion of more serious crimes, it will have a higher CSI score.

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In comparison, Canada’s CSI score always remains 100, which means that municipalities with scores above 100 are less safe and scores under 100 are considered safer.

Among those reviewed from 2017 to 2021, Coaldale scored a 52.5, the lowest score by 25 points.

As the data in the analysis reveals, when it comes to crime severity Coaldale stands out for being the safest community among its neighboring communities. (PHOTO: Town of Coaldale)

Cameron Mills, Director of Growth and Investment for Coaldale said, “To control for fluctuations in CSI scores – which can change significantly from one year to the next – we decided we’d calculate a five-year CSI scoring average for each municipality in the analysis. What we found was that over the last five years, both violent and non-violent crimes in Coaldale have remained, on average, relatively low, making it the safest community among both its neighbours and peers.”

He added, “In fact, with an average score of just 52.5, Coaldale ranks as the safest municipality its size in the province, the third safest municipality in Western Canada and the seventh safest municipality of its size in the country.”

Results from the Comparative Analysis also highlighted the town’s operating and capital budgets, audited financial statements and annual reports as another tool to analyze the efficiency of Coaldale’s operations.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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