Nelson is experiencing the city害羞草研究所檚 lowest crime rate in over two decades.
Annual data released by Statistics Canada shows Nelson害羞草研究所檚 crime severity index (CSI), which measures Criminal Code violations weighted by seriousness of offences, fell to a score of 70.35 for 2021. That is the lowest such score since 1998 when Statistics Canada began using the measurement.
Nelson害羞草研究所檚 CSI score is below the provincial score of 92.86 and the national score of 73.7. among Canadian municipalities at 128.7.
The city害羞草研究所檚 violent crime severity index, which measures violent crimes weighted by their severity, also fell to a 10-year low of 55.94. The total number of violent incidents was 149, which is essentially unchanged for the last five years.
The Nelson Police Department害羞草研究所檚 Chief Donovan Fisher said he thinks the cooperation between law enforcement and local social service providers has made an impact on crime in the city.
害羞草研究所淎 lot of our partners in the community I think are doing a good job at dealing with a number of the street issues early on, and either capturing it at the lowest level or preventing it from happening. So I think we害羞草研究所檙e seeing the effects of good community partnerships and working together on things.害羞草研究所�
The department responded to a 24-year low of 863 incidents, which Statistics Canada defines 害羞草研究所渁s a set of connected events usually constituting a police occurrence report. An incident may involve several victims, several CSCs, and multiple violations of the law.害羞草研究所�
Incidents don害羞草研究所檛 include calls that aren害羞草研究所檛 crime reports or are considered unfounded, which includes investigations that end with offences found to have never happened or not attempted (there were 16 unfounded incidents in Nelson last year).
Fisher said calls for mental health support also aren害羞草研究所檛 included and cautioned against the assumption that police may not be as active because reported incidents are declining.
The department charged 132 people with crimes in 2021, which was also the lowest number for Nelson since 1998. Of those, no youth were charged for the first time in a decade.
The decrease in criminal activity, Fisher said, may also be related to initiatives that attempt to keep offenders out of court.
Under Chief Fisher, the department has renewed its , which received in May.
害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 been more of an appetite between ourselves and the Crown and Restorative Justice to look at alternative ways of dealing with offenders,害羞草研究所� said Fisher.
害羞草研究所淚 also think there害羞草研究所檚 been a lot more work with Street Outreach and The Hub and Nelson CARES and some of the some of the NGOs in the community that may have either had an alternative way of dealing with an issue or maybe even a more preventative outcome.害羞草研究所�
Other 2021 stats of note include:
害羞草研究所� There were 18 total drug violations, a 10-year low and down from 32 the previous year. Ten people were charged with drug crimes, and of those, just three faced charges of trafficking an opioid other than heroin.
害羞草研究所� Traffic violation incidents were also recorded at the lowest number since 2015. There were 49 incidents, down from 57 the previous year. From those incidents 11 people were charged, which is typical for Nelson over the last decade.
害羞草研究所� Assaults against peace officers fell to eight last year from 10 in 2020.
害羞草研究所� The Nelson Police Department had the second highest weighted clearance rate among B.C.害羞草研究所檚 11 municipal forces, behind only Central Saanich but well ahead of other departments such as Vancouver and Abbotsford.
The weighted clearance rate, which leans towards serious offences, measures the number of cases that end either with an approved charge or an outcome that doesn害羞草研究所檛 require a courtroom date.
The drop in Nelson害羞草研究所檚 crime is a contrast to a rise in CSI scores across the West Kootenay.
Trail leads the region with the highest CSI at 124.79, which rose from 2020 but was still below the 2019 mark of 140.58. Castlegar害羞草研究所檚 score of 114.70 was its highest since 2008 while Creston increased to 103.56.
Grand Forks and Boundary also saw its score rise to 82.92, followed by Salmo (84.05) and Kaslo (64.69).
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| tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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