Statistics Canada released new police-reported crime figures for 2023 yesterday. The data points to a 39 per cent increase in violent crime severity in Estevan, hitting a 10-year high.
Estevan's violent crime severity index is 163.92, up from 117.69 in 2022. This shows a 10-year peak, with the previous high set at 156.51 in 2021. The overall crime severity index for the area is up 32 per cent, from 87.25 in 2022 to 115.48 last year. Raw data indicates that out of the 1161 crimes reported last year, 313 were classified as violent under the Criminal Code.
The reporting agency notes that the indexes don't tell the whole picture and that it's not an indicator of how safe an area is. The data is missing key indicators like population demographics, employment and income, housing and the labour market. The indexes are simply looking at the raw numbers.
Impaired driving and drug-related violations have remained steady over the last few years. Last year, 74 impaired driving incidents were reported, compared to 57 the previous year. Drug-related violations declined slightly from 24 reported in 2022 to 22 last year.
Comparing the data on a per 100,000 basis, there was an 18 per cent increase in overall police-reported violations in 2023 compared to the previous year, including an 11 per cent decrease in violent crime. Impaired driving violations are up 30 per cent compared to last year.
The full data sheet can be found in the Statistics Canada website.