Crime continues to decline in Nelson, according to an annual report from Statistics Canada.
The Nelson Police Department responded to 953 incidents in 2018, the lowest number the city has recorded since 2000.
The data released Monday also shows 195 people were charged as a result of NPD investigations last year. That’s the fewest people charged in one year since 2005. Of those people, 50 were charged with violent crimes, which is also at a five-year low.
The city’s crime severity index (CSI), which measures changes in the level of severity by assigning a weight based on the seriousness of a crime, dropped 14.89 per cent to 71.16.
British Columbia’s overall CSI score for 2018 was 87.67, while Canada’s score was a 1.9 per cent increase to 75.01, which is a five-year high.
Of Canada’s major cities, Regina recorded a CSI score of 126.63, followed by Winnipeg (119.43), Edmonton (114.89), Calgary (88.10), Vancouver (84.30), Halifax (67.33), Victoria (63.61), Montreal (58.29) and Toronto (53.64).
Other notable details from the report include: the NPD making its first arrests for opioid-related crime in five years after five people were charged in trafficking drugs other than heroin; 12 incidents of sexual assault being reported but just one person charged; and a five-year low for people charged with criminal code traffic violations at nine.
Nelson’s RCMP detachment responded to a five-year high of 387 incidents, but only charged 52 people with crimes in 2018.
Other communities include:
• Castlegar RCMP responded to 694 incidents and charged 148 people within city limits. The percentage of violent crimes rose 44.92 per cent over 2017, with 23 people charged two years ago but 30 charged in 2018. Rurally, the detachment had five-year lows for incidents (214) and people charged (33).
• Trail RCMP charged 183 people while responding to a five-year high of 888 incidents.
• Salmo RCMP charged 60 people and responded to 383 incidents. Among those, 64 were considered violent crime incidents that resulted in 12 people charged, which was the same as 2017.
• Kaslo RCMP continue to see declining crime in their region. The detachment responded to just 192 incidents last year while charging only 12 people.
• Slocan Lake RCMP also saw a decline, with a 15.98 per cent drop to 119 incidents and 19 charges. Eleven of those charges, however, were for violent crimes.
Related:
• Sexual assaults, extortion on the rise even as crime rates stay low: Stats Canada
• Reports of sex assault in B.C. spike after #MeToo goes viral: Stats Canada
tyler.harper@nelsonstar.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
