The City of Williams Lake continues to focus on crime reduction measures as the Crime Severity Index (CSI) produced by Statistics Canada for 2013 shows a 9% reduction in the CSI value compared to 2012, and a nearly 34% decrease since the Index was first published for the year 2008.
Crime has declined in Williams Lake every year between 2008-2011, with a small increase in crime statistics in mid-2012. Some categories of property crime, such as vehicle theft, have decreased by as much as 80% since 2008.
The City continues to work with the RCMP and other community partners to address crime and the social factors behind it. A number of initiatives have been put in place over the past few years, including a prolific offender program, Boitanio Park Working Group, a youth gang crime task force, and a false alarm bylaw to free up RCMP resources. The City also continuously lobbied the Province for additional resources for policing. The City is taking a collaborative approach to crime, recognizing it is a community issue, not just a policing issue.
The CSI value of Williams Lake in 2013 is 216.3, down from 330.5 in 2008, when Williams Lake ranked #1 in Canadian communities with a population of 10,000 or more. The City’s CSI in 2012 was 238.4. In 2013, Williams Lake ranked #4 in overall crime in Canada.
Factors leading to the decrease in the CSI are fewer break and enters (77 in 2013 compared to 117 in 2012), assaults with a weapon (75 in 2013, compared to 100 in 2012), and incidences of cocaine trafficking (8 in 2013 compared to 21 in 2012).
“Reducing crime is a priority for the City,” says Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook. “We are committed to doing the hard work to continue to improve community safety. We’ve had a number of crime reduction successes, with the RCMP’s prolific offender program, partnerships and outreach with local First Nations, and Community Policing programs, among others, and we are moving in the right direction. We need to continue our collaborative approach to crime reduction and community wellness with our community partners.”
The Index also includes sentencing, and in Williams Lake, many people are arrested for breaching bail, probation, and undertakings, which affects the CSI score. In 2013, the crimes with the highest incidences were Disturbing the Peace and Mischief. The Index is also calculated using the population of the City of Williams Lake, while a majority of crime is committed by non-residents. Most violent crime is perpetrated by criminals on other criminals, resulting in little impact on community safety,
“The Williams Lake RCMP is actively engaged in a number of crime reduction strategies that has had some significant successes over the last few years in reducing crime,” says Inspector Warren Brown, commander of the Williams Lake RCMP detachment. “The RCMP will continue to explore creative and innovative ways, in consultation with our stakeholders, to ensure we take every opportunity to make our city and communities safe. From our employees, to our volunteers, to the many good relationships we share with agencies and community people, we will work tirelessly towards reducing our crime.”
2 comments:
There arethree types of lies---lies,damn lies and statistics. Benjamin Disraeli.
Statistics can and are being manipulated for self-serving purposes. You can't hang your hat on the one statistic that has come down (vehicle theft) and say we, as a city, are doing better. There is a bottom line here: we are still NUMBER 4 in overall crime for like-sized communities across CANADA! Politicians and local RCMP have to say crimes are going down to cover their collective butts. When we are in the middle of the pack, then come back and tell us what a great job you're doing. In the meantime, no matter how you colour it, the statistics looks pretty grim. Let's hope the new leadership at the RCMP will do a better job overall, and not just focus on one aspect of crime.
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