Crime is falling in the Cranbrook and surrounding rural region, according to data released by Statistics Canada.
Police responded to 1,820 calls for service within the city in 2018, a seven per cent drop from the year prior, while calls for service in rural areas also fell by roughly two per cent.
However, while crime is falling, more serious crimes seem to be holding steady or on the rise, according to the Crime Severity Index (CSI) — a statistics tool that is calculated by assigning weight to offences based on sentencing outcomes and providing a numbered metric.
According to the CSI, Cranbrok’s crime severity index rate is roughly holding at last year’s rate, while violent crime has jumped. Rurally, crime severity is also on the rise, and violent crime jumped significantly.
However, despite the rise in both local and rural violent crime severity, police clearance rates have also risen.
Additionally, non-violent crime is down slightly locally, while rising slightly in the Cranbrook rural region.
Nationally, the crime severity index was up slightly in 2018 over the previous year, with a slight rise in both violent crime severity and non-violent crime severity.
trevor.crawley@cranbrooktownsman.com
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