With one police-reported homicide in 2018, Campbell River hits the top 40 of Maclean’s magazine‘s homicide rate ranking, part of its annual “Canada’s Most Dangerous Places” roundup.
The city, with a homicide rate (incidents per 100,000) of 2.85, is second on the Island only to Port Alberni in 20th, which had one homicide as well, but a smaller population pushed its rate to 5.32.
Campbell River remains above the national average when it comes to crime.
In the magazine’s annual roundup, Campbell River ranked 86 out of 237 cities when it came to the violent crime severity index (VCSI) and 80th when it came to the crime severity index (CSI).
Maclean’s annual list uses Statistics Canada’s CSI data, which measures both the volume and severity of police-reported crime in a municipality and compares it to the national average. Their list includes 237 urban centres with a population of 10,000 or more.
In this year’s version, which uses the most recent data available (from 2018), Campbell River had a CSI score of 84, well above the national average of 75.01. However, compared to the previous year (using data from 2017), the city’s CSI improved from a score of 89, compared to the national average of 70.96.
The rate of violent crimes are down, with Campbell River receiving a score of 77 for the VCSI compared to 84 previously. The most recent national average is 82.44.
It’s in the five-year change in crime that we see the biggest swing. The most recent data from 2018 shows a 4.08 change, compared to a 0.37 change in 2017.
Breaking out into more specialized divisions, Campbell River was below the national average in most categories.
The city is below the national average when it comes to the homicide rate, assault rate, firearms offences, robbery rate, breaking and entering rate, cannabis trafficking or production rate, cocaine trafficking or production rate and youth criminal justice act offences. Campbell River is above the national average for the fraud rate, impaired driving rate and other controlled drugs, trafficking or production rate.
Between 2017 and 2018, Campbell River saw the biggest increase of actual incidents when it came to robbery (19 from 12), fraud (152 from 104), impaired driving (105 from 87) and other controlled drugs, trafficking or production (15 from 5).
The rate of actual incidents went down in a number of categories including assault (179 from 185) breaking and entering (128 from 177) and youth criminal justice act offences (2 from 21).
How many actual incidents occured
| Type of Crime | 2018 | 2017 |
| Homicide | 1 | 1 |
| Assault | 179 | 185 |
| Sexual Assault | 24 | 21 |
| Firearms Offences | 2 | 3 |
| Robbery | 19 | 12 |
| Breaking and Entering | 128 | 177 |
| Fraud | 152 | 104 |
| Impaired Driving | 105 | 87 |
| Cannabis Trafficking or Production | 2 | 3 |
| Cocaine Trafficking or Production | 4 | 5 |
| Other Controlled Drugs, Trafficking or Production | 15 | 5 |
| Youth Criminal Justice Act Offences | 2 | 21 |
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