Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says despite a 7% increase in the city's crime severity index, Windsor is still a very safe community.
Statistics Canada has released its "Police-Reported Crime Statistics" report for 2017, and it shows an increase in both the incidence of crime and the severity of offences last year. It says all gun-related crime was up 15%, while the homicide rate jumped 7% and sexual assault was up 15%.
The increase marks the third consecutive annual increase after an 11-year drop in crime.
The crime severity index is measured using both the incidence of reported crime and the severity of the offences. Windsor measured 71.1 on the index, still below the national average of 72.9. There were 4,705 incidents reported to police in 2017, an increase of 6%.
"There were reasons why we supported hiring 12 additional officers," says Dilkens reminding the public crime stats are collected and reviewed on a monthly basis. "We saw an increase in property crime. We saw an increase in violent crime, and we wanted to address that before it gets out of control."
More than half of Canada's Census Metropolitan Areas reported increases and Windsor's jump is paltry next to the Greater Sudbury's 25% jump. Moncton and Guelph followed it at 15%, and Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge at 14%.
"I'm glad we're below the provincial average," Dilkens says. "But any increase for us makes us look and pause to think of what we can do to drive the number down."
Some cities bucked the national trend and saw a decrease in their index. St. John's Newfoundland saw its index fall -15%. It was down 11% in Regina and 6% in Vancouver.
-With files from Mark Brown
