REGINA — Crime severity index numbers are in, and numbers are high once again in Saskatchewan.
Statistics Canada released the 2021 CSI numbers for the country on Tuesday and numbers for Saskatchewan have gone up. The CSI for the province is 146.76, up from 142.60 or a 2.92 per cent increase.
The province’s CSI is above the national CSI for 2021 of 73.68. While Saskatchewan’s CSI is up, Canada’s CSI is the lowest since 2017.
For the violent crime severity index, Saskatchewan reported 185.93, up 3.71 per cent. That compares to the national violent crime CSI of 92.50.
The non-violent crime severity for Saskatchewan is at 132.32, up 2.52 per cent. For youth crime severity it is 88.96, down 4.71 per cent.
Overall, six provinces recorded increases in their CSI numbers while the others reported decreases.
According to Stats Can, the rise in Canada's Violent CSI in 2021 was primarily driven by an 18 per cent increase in the rate of level 1 sexual assault, which accounted for over one-third of the increase in the Violent CSI.
In contrast, rates of police-reported level two and three sexual assault decreased five per cent and 13 per cent.
Among metropolitan areas in Canada, Regina ranked fifth with a CSI of 110.9, an increase of six per cent, while Saskatoon ranked sixth at 106, which is unchanged from last year. Ranking above Regina for CSI are Moncton (113.4), Winnipeg (113.6), Kelowna (122.3) and Lethbridge (128.7).
For Saskatchewan communities above 10,000 population, North Battleford’s CSI topped the province again. It went up to 480.72, an increase of 11.89 per cent. Its violent crime severity score was 518.42, down 7.46 per cent. But non-violent crime severity was 466.02, up from 381.68.
Prince Albert again recorded a high CSI score of 263.44 and a violent crime severity of 413.51.
For other Saskatchewan communities, Moose Jaw’s CSI score was 127.17, Yorkton was 147.59, Estevan 91.13, Weyburn 77.34 and Swift Current 50.23.
According to Stats Can, the CSI measures both the volume and severity of crime reported to the police. Data is drawn from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, a census of all crime known to police services.
