“It’s alarming:” Leaders respond to Crime Severity Index stats

Following the report that St. Paul leads all Alberta communities in the national Crime Severity Index, mayor Maureen Miller says it’s something the community doesn’t take lightly.

“It’s alarming,” Miller told Lakeland Connect.

“It’s not a stat that we’re proud of. But quite often you move things forward when you have more information. Those stats assist me with working with the government, so as much as we hate to hear them, it does support the community and myself, in working towards solutions. It is a discouraging stat, but we’ll definitely work with it.” 

StatsCan looked through all the crime data of 2022 to create an aggregate measurement called the Crime Severity Index based on the population, prevalance, and seriousness of offences happening in every community across Canada.

St. Paul ranked first first in Alberta, while Bonnyville was second, Elk Point ranked fifth, Cold Lake ranked seventh, and Lac La Biche ranked eighth.

Nationally, that put St. Paul thirteenth and Bonnyville fourteenth.

“Seeing Bonnyville is #2 on the severity index in Alberta is surprising, and not in a good way,” said Mayor Elisa Brosseau.

“We see and hear about crime every day in our region, but to be ranked in such a way is disheartening. The Town has a strong relationship with our local RCMP detachment; we are working hard to address the issue of crime in Town.”

In St. Paul, the Chamber of Commerce has been getting more involved in the effort as well. 

They asked business owners in early July to send a short letter to the RCMP outlining their concerns and experiences with an increased sense of threat in the community. 

“It’s not something we take lightly. We’re very engaged with our RCMP and our partners around that,” said Miller.

“Obviously we want a safe community and to live in their old age here, not to mention myself, so we take it very seriously. We will delving down into how the stats were developed, which you have to do with any stats program.”