The latest figures from the national statistical agency show that while crime severity did go up in 2024 in most Midwestern Ontario communities, clearance of those reported crimes also went up.
Statistics Canada released its annual crime severity index (CSI) this week, which showed a few communities saw increases of double digits in that category.
Kincardine reported the greatest shift in crime severity index year-over-year, with a 36.5 per cent increase in 2024, up to a CSI score of 43.16.
Grey Highlands (19.38 per cent), Chatsworth (16.12), South Bruce Peninsula (15.05) and Hanover (13.34) also reported double digit percentage increases from the prior year.
Most of those numbers were driven by an increase in the violent crime severity index. However Hanover actually saw a decrease in violent crime, but a 24 per cent gain in non-violent crime, resulting in the shift.
Owen Sound reported the biggest decrease in crime severity index in 2024, dropping 18.82 per cent.
Other areas with notable drops were Saugeen Shores (14.33), Huron East (14.11) and North Perth (9.38).
While Statistics Canada also showed a 50 per cent decrease in severity for Wiarton, the agency cautions against reading too much into data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000, as they're susceptible to greater swings.
The overall highest crime severity index's reported in the region in 2024 were:
- Hanover: 110.78
- Owen Sound: 101.94
- Central Huron: 80.41
- Huron-Goderich: 76.31
- Stratford: 67.11
Detachments reporting the highest weighted clearance rates also corresponded to communities with the highest crime severity indexes, with one exception.
Grey Bruce OPP for the Township of Southgate reported a weighted clearance rate of 49.55, which was a 67 per cent increase over the year prior. The town only had a crime severity index of 39.6 in 2024.