Media Release-Prince Albert Police Service reviewing recent Statistics Canada report

Media Release-Prince Albert Police Service reviewing recent Statistics Canada report

Media Release-Prince Albert Police Service reviewing recent Statistics Canada report

Today, the Canadian Center for Justice Statistics (Stats Canada) released the 2018 Crime Statistics and the Crime Severity Index (CSI) values for Canada. The crime statistics and CSI are formulated to compare the severity of crime and violent crime in roughly 300 communities with populations over 10,000 for 2018. The comparison is based on the ratio of crime versus the population base for a community, as opposed to the totality of crime in communities.

Each year, the Prince Albert Police Service carefully analyzes the annual release from Statistics Canada to ensure that as a service, we are aware of the underpinning issues that cause crime in our community. At face value, we observed an overall decrease in reported crime in our community in addition to a drop in non-violent crime, including break and enters, breaches of court orders, and shoplifting.

The police service acknowledges an increase in violent crime as outlined in the report and remains committed to working toward ways to combat violence in our community. The police service supports numerous community-based initiatives and participates on boards and committees aimed at helping youth, families and individuals lead healthy and positive lifestyles.

Monday’s report contains a significant amount of data and the Prince Albert Police Service will spend the next few weeks reviewing the numbers and studying the information. While the recent report does not reflect 2019 call numbers, members with the police service review statistics on a daily basis to study trends and ensure resources are being deployed in an accurate and effective manner.

Local police officers respond to numerous calls for service every day and serve a large transient population. The report notes the city’s core population is just over 37,000 people, but figures from the City of Prince Albert show the retail population of the local community – or the number of people who come to the city for appointments, shopping and entertainment each day – is actually around 190,000 people.

 

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