Canada Crime Rate Continues Fall: StatsCan

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- OTTAWA - The crime rate continued a 20-year decline last year, dropping five per cent from 2009 and hitting the lowest level since 1973, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The homicide rate was the lowest since 1966.

The statistics agency said the overall police-reported crime rate is still following a long-term downward curve, despite the alarm bells from the Harper government over the need for tough-on-crime legislation.

The agency said an index which measures the severity of crime fell six per cent in 2010. The crime severity index is at its lowest point since 1998, the first year for which such data are available.

The governing Conservatives, though, still want to pursue a crime crackdown. In the past they have brushed off the police-reported crime rates, saying many crimes don't get reported and thus undermine the statistics.

The decline in crime severity in 2010 was seen virtually across the country, except for increases in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Police reported nearly 2.1 million Criminal Code incidents last year, down about 77,000 from 2009.

The majority of the decline was attributed to drops in the numbers of property crimes, such as car theft, theft under 5,000, mischief and break-ins.

But there were also fewer homicides, attempted murders, serious assaults and robberies.

There were increases in some areas, however, including sexual assault, firearms crimes, criminal harassment, child pornography and drug offences.

Police reported just over 437,000 violent incidents in 2010, about 7,200 fewer than in the previous year. Violent crimes accounted for just over 20 per cent of offences.

There were 554 homicides in 2010, 56 fewer than in 2009. This 10 per cent drop followed a decade of relative stability.

The national homicide rate of 1.62 for every 100,000 people was the lowest since 1966.

The national decline in homicide was due mainly to a large decrease in British Columbia, where the rate of 1.83 per 100,000 was at an all-time low, although still above the national rate.

The number of attempted murders also declined, to 693 last year from 801 in 2009. This resulted in the lowest rate for this offence in over 30 years.

Police reported more than 22,000 sexual assaults in 2010, up five per cent from 2009 and the first increase since 2005.

As usual, almost 80 per cent of crimes reported to police were non-violent. Theft under $5,000, mischief and break-ins accounted for close to two-thirds of the almost 1.7 million non-violent offences.

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Source: Huffington