Stats Canada has released the Crime Statistics and the Crime Severity Index (CSI) values for 325 police services policing communities over 10,000 population across Canada.
As a result of the Crime Severity Index, for the Overall Crime Severity Index, Weyburn is ranked 51st out of 325 with a CSI value of 108.47; for the Violent Crime Severity Index, Weyburn is ranked 126th out of 325 with a CSI value of 73.99; and for the Non-Violent Crime Severity Index, Weyburn is ranked 37th out of 325 with a CSI value of 120.62.
Weyburn Police Chief Jamie Blunden explained how this rating translates to what the Weyburn Police Service is seeing on the streets for crime levels.
“Stats Canada gives certain weight to different crimes. It’s kind of like a diving competition – the harder dives get a degree of difficulty starting score that is higher than an easier dive. Crime Severity stats are the same. For example, a homicide will have the highest ‘value’ assigned while a theft under $5,000 will have significantly lower ‘value’ assigned. Each of the crimes is given a value and Stats Canada then looks at all the crimes in our area that have been reported and assigned values,” he said, noting there are three categories for crime stats: overall crime severity index or CSI, the violent crime CSI and the non-violent CSI.
“As an organization you want to have lower overall value assigned but higher ‘rank’. The number 1 rank police service tells us that crime is outrageous and more than any other place. The score for example in Thompson for the Overall CSI is 454.03, while Weyburn is 108.47, thus Thompson also is No. 1 ‘rank’ while Weyburn is No. 51 rank,” said Chief Blunden, adding that not all police services record offences in the same way.
Comparing Weyburn to other Saskatchewan police services and municipalities over 10,000 in population it looks as follows:
1. North Battleford: Overall CSI ranked #2 with a CSI value of 454.03; Violent CSI ranked #2 with a CSI value of 540.98; Non-Violent CSI ranked #1 with a CSI value of 377.56
2. Prince Albert: Overall CSI ranked #7 with a CSI value of 249.28; Violent CSI ranked #5 with a CSI value of 375.26; Non-Violent CSI ranked #10 with a CSI value of 203.38
3. Yorkton: Overall CSI ranked #30 with a CSI value of 128.56; Violent CSI ranked #33 with a CSI value of 142.23; Non-Violent CSI ranked #34 with a CSI value of 123.34
4. Saskatoon: Overall CSI ranked #39 with a CSI value of 118.33; Violent CSI ranked #34 with a CSI value of 137.53; Non-Violent CSI ranked #50 with a CSI value of 111.15
5. Regina: Overall CSI ranked #47 with a CSI value of 110.41; Violent CSI ranked #36 with a CSI value of 135.65; Non-Violent CSI ranked #60 with a CSI value of 101.07
6. Weyburn: Overall CSI ranked #51 with a CSI value of 108.47; Violent CSI ranked #126 with a CSI value of 73.99; Non-Violent CSI ranked #37 with a CSI value of 120.62
7. Estevan: Overall CSI ranked #53 with a CSI value of 108.27; Violent CSI ranked #116 with a CSI value of 78.53; Non-Violent CSI ranked #40 with a CSI value of 118.72
8. Moose Jaw: Overall CSI ranked #59 with a CSI value of 104.28; Violent CSI ranked #140 with a CSI value of 69.76; Non-Violent CSI ranked #43 with a CSI value of 116.44
9. Swift Current: Overall CSI ranked #68 with a CSI value of 97.43; Violent CSI ranked #89 with a CSI value of 92.62; Non-Violent CSI ranked #61 with a CSI value of 98.93
