Greater Sudbury's crime rate is on the decline.
In a recent release from Statistics Canada on crime statistics for 2007, Greater Sudbury saw a 9.3 per cent decrease from the previous year, essentially making it the fifth safest metropolitan area (100,000 to less than 500,000 population) in Canada.
According to the Statistics Canada report, the national crime rate, based on data reported by police, declined for the third consecutive year in 2007. The seven per cent drop in the national crime rate was driven mainly by decreases in counterfeiting and high-volume property offences, such as theft $5,000 and under, break-ins and motor vehicle thefts.
That holds true for the Greater Sudbury Police Service as well.
Deputy chief of police Frank Elsner said the decrease in property crime has had the greatest impact on the city's rates.
“Chief (Ian) Davidson's focus over the past year has been on decreasing our break and enters,” he said. “Our street crimes unit has put a lot of resources into addressing those issues.”
The Statistics Canada release stated that police reported a decrease in most serious violent offences as well, including fewer homicides, attempted murders, sexual assaults and robberies.
Greater Sudbury marked 888 total violent offences in 2007. Though the number is lower than the national average of 930, Elsner said it is still an area of concern.
“Violent offences affect people's lives and have a long-term impact,” he said. “Unfortunately, those (types of offences) are very hard to do crime prevention initiatives on.
“We can target properties, tell people to turn on their lights and use sensors, but how do you stop two people from assaulting each other, as an example,” he continued.
The Greater Sudbury Police Service is looking at developing different programming in schools to target these types of crimes, as well as working with various community partners, such as domestic violence committees, the deputy chief explained, “to see if we can educate people and bring some of those statistics down as well.”
Overall, Elsner said he was very pleased with the results.
“What we're seeing is a decrease in overall crime statistics and an increase in our charge rates,” he said. “As the deputy chief, I'm very pleased to see that trend. We're solving the cases that we do get but we're also getting less cases.”
National Crime Statistics (according to Statistics Canada)
- After rising in 2006, the overall crime rate among youth aged 12 to 17 declined slightly in 2007. While non-violent offences committed by youth fell, youth violent crime remained stable.
- Crime rates continue to be the highest in Western Canada and the territories. Among the provinces, Saskatchewan once again reported the highest overall crime rate, as well as the highest violent crime rate.
- For the fourth year in a row, the lowest provincial rates occurred in Ontario and Quebec.
- Police reported declines in homicide in every province except Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick.
- Toronto reported the second lowest overall crime rate among all 27 metropolitan areas. However, one in five homicides in Canada occurred in Toronto in 2007.
