Lasalle ranks as third-safest community
Statistics Canada report shows low crime severity rates, partially due to pandemic
Bragging rights go to the town of Lasalle for being the third-safest community in Canada and the safest in the Windsor-essex County region in 2020, according to Statistics Canada.
“Lasalle has been consistently in the top 10 safest communities for years,” said Acting Police Chief Duncan Davies. “One of the safest communities in the country, at least from the crime severity index.”
Davies attributes the low crime severity rates to a number of things, including public awareness of what's going on in the community and a willingness to report “something out of the ordinary” to police.
“We have a great partnership with our community. We rely on the public to report things to us. We respond to that appropriately (and) have quick response times,” Davies said.
The Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics released its annual crime severity index rankings and Statistics Canada posted the results, comparing 2020 data provided by 325 police services across the country in communities with populations over 10,000.
Lasalle's index rating of 19.15 placed it third after the country's safest community, Northumberland, Ont., at 15.35 and second-place Kennebecasis Region, N.B., at 18.72.
Lasalle's rating was an improvement from its 2019 figure of 26.99.
“We believe the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a decrease in the rate of crime in Lasalle partly due to the limitations placed on mobility,” Davies said.
“More people staying indoors, and working from home, as well as less traffic on our roadways may have contributed to a reduction in the number of reactive calls for service.
“Officers were more visible in the community, engaging in increased proactive policing activities including directed patrols, property checks and traffic enforcement.”
And the Statcan report was in agreement.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on Canada's economy, health-care system and society in general, reads the report.
Policies enacted to contain the spread of the virus have resulted in unprecedented disruptions in the social and economic lives of Canadians, changing how we interact, socialize, learn, work and consume, said Statscan.
Police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by the crime severity index decreased eight per cent, from 79.8 in 2019 to 73.4 in 2020. It was 11 per cent lower than a decade earlier in 2010.
The index measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada and has a base index value of 100 for 2006.
Overall, police-reported crime rates (excluding traffic offences) decreased 10 per cent from 2019 to 2020, with violent crime down two per cent, property crime down 13 per cent and other Criminal Code offences down 10 per cent. The decreases follow five years of increases.
When ratings of Essex County municipalities are compared, Leamington had the worst ranking, with a crime severity rate of 74.02 (an improvement over 2019's 87.53). Kingsville had a 33.45 rating (down from 35.12), Tecumseh was 30.5 (44.43), Essex stood at 28.39 (32.96) and Lakeshore was 27.86 (31.32).
No stats were provided for Amherstburg or Pelee Island.
Windsor's rate of 83.3 was above the national average of 73.4, but well below the worst metropolitan area (areas with populations greater than 100,000): Lethbridge, Alta., at 138.7.
Barrie ranked No. 1 among the metropolitan areas in Ontario with a rate of 44.9, while Quebec City was tops nationally at 42.1.
“The crime severity index confirms that Lasalle Police Service is providing effective programs and services within our community,” said Lasalle Mayor Marc Bondy. “When I am talking to the residents of our community, they often tell me how safe they feel.