Port Alberni and North Saanich are on the opposite ends of the Island scale when it comes to a serious crime survey compiled nationally by Maclean’s magazine. Peninsula News Review file

Port Alberni and North Saanich are on the opposite ends of the Island scale when it comes to a serious crime survey compiled nationally by Maclean’s magazine. Peninsula News Review file

Campbell River ranked 19th in Youth Crime Offences on Most Dangerous City list

Overall, we ranked 44th in the country for all crime statistics combined

With 19 Youth Criminal Justice Act offences reported by the Campbell River RCMP in 2016, Campbell River ranks 19th of 229 Canadian cities on the Maclean’s ‘Canada’s Most Dangerous Places 2018-Youth Crime’ list.

Though well below North Battleford, Sask., who is at the top of the Youth Crime list with 72 offences, Campbell River comes second only to Port Alberni on the Island for the number of Youth Crime offences, according to the Macleans Magazine ranking of cities with at least 10,000 population.

Overall, Campbell River is the 44th most dangerous city to live in, thanks to our Crime Severity Index (CSI) rating of 103, a Statistics Canada measure on all police-reported crime.

Compared to the highest ranking city on the list, North Battleford which has a CSI of 353, our rating may seem like nothing, but it is 30 points above the national average and it increased compared to 2015.

Though the homicide rate and the impaired driving rate decreased over the year prior, they are both still more than double the national rates at three incidents per 100,000 people and 428 incidents per 100,000 people, respectively.

On the other hand, the rate of assault increased over the year prior and at 804 incidents per 100,000 people, is well above the national average of 430 incidents per 100,000 people.

Similarly, Campbell River RCMP reported 239 incidents of breaking and entering in 2017, that is a rate of 742 per 100,000, compared to the national average of 438 incidents per 100,000 people.

The Police Reported Crime Severity Index measures changes in the level of severity of crime in Canada from year to year. More severe crimes, based on sentences handed down by the courts, are assigned higher weights and the opposite is true for less severe crimes. More serious offences have a greater impact on the changes in the index.

Campbell River Mirror