Efforts to curb crime in Chatham-Kent appear to be working, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.
During Tuesday's meeting, the Chatham-Kent Police Service Board received a report that detailed the crime statistics for Canada in 2019. The report with data for the previous year is typically released in the summer, but was delayed because of COVID-19.
Overall, police-reported crime across the country, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), increased five per cent from 75.6 per cent in 2018 to 79.5 per cent in 2019.
"The nice thing about the Crime Severity Index versus the crime rate is that the Crime Severity Index takes into consideration both the seriousness and the volume of the crime," Chatham-Kent Police Cheif Gary Conn explained. "As a result, it provides us with a more accurate depiction of crime."
This marks the fifth consecutive annual increase in Canada's overall CSI. However, the 2019 index remained nine per cent lower than a decade earlier.
According to the report, the increase in the overall national CSI in 2019 was the result of higher police-reported rates for several crimes including a 46 per cent increase in child pornography, a 20 per cent increase in uttering threats, an 11 per cent increase in shoplifting under $5,000, an eight per cent increase in rates for both fraud and mischief as well as a seven per cent increase in sexual assault without a weapon or evidence of bodily harm.
Meanwhile, Chatham-Kent's overall CSI decreased by nearly eight per cent from 75.60 per cent in 2018 to 69.6 per cent in 2019. This puts Chatham-Kent 9.85 per cent below the national CSI in 2019 and 6.41 per cent below Chatham-Kent's five-year average of 76.01 per cent.
More specifically, Chatham-Kent's violent crime severity index rose by 5.7 per cent and came in at 56.7 per cent in 2019. This is compared to the national violent crime index which went up by 6.10 per cent in 2019 to 89.67 per cent
Police across Canada reported 678 homicides in 2019, 20 more than the year before. Chatham-Kent saw no homicides in 2019.
"Although our violent crime severity index did go up slightly, that was not as a result of any murders last year. But, we did have four attempt murders which are captured within this component of the Crime Severity Index. But again, we're well below the federal and provincial averages," said Conn.
When it comes to non-violent crime, something Conn said has always been an "Achilles heel" for Chatham-Kent, the latest figures painted a more optimistic picture.
Although the national non-violent CSI increased across the country by three per cent in 2019 to 75.59 per cent, Chatham-Kent non-violent CSI decreased from 84.20 per cent to 74.1.
"This is the lowest we've ever been in regards to non-violent crime and the first time we have ever been below the national average," said Conn.
According to Conn, the drop is largely due to the 18.5 per cent decrease in property crimes across Chatham-Kent in 2019.
"These reductions are largely attributed to the proactive measures jointly implemented by our community patrol branch and street crimes," he said. "Projects such as our Strategic Targeting of Property Crime and Project Fresh, which yielded 19 arrests, 82 charges and over $3 million in drugs seized, all had a positive effect on decreasing the amount of property crime committed in our municipality last year."
When examining the CSI values for 50 municipal police services across Canada with a population over 100,000, Chatham-Kent ranked 30th overall in 2019, 26th for non-violent crimes and 45th for violent crimes.
"It is clear through the information provided... that our efforts in all areas are proceeding in the right direction," said Conn.
