Police ‘concerned’ with rising crime rates, but say Peel Region is among safest places in Canada

Peel’s police chief says he is “concerned” with a rise in crime rates, but also says the region is one of the safest places in the country.

Peel Regional Police said in a news release Wednesday that according to Statistics Canada data, “Peel Region continues to be one of the safest communities in Canada.”

“However, we are concerned with the rise in crime rates, particularly when it comes to home invasions, carjackings, and other violent crimes,” Chief Nishan Duraiappah said.

“We will continue to dedicate the resources needed to ensure effective enforcement, strong investigative capabilities, and work with partners on initiatives that increase our community’s safety.”

The release said that each year, Statistics Canada collects data from police services and compares them. In July, the 2023 Crime Severity Index was released.

Data is compared through various means, including a Crime Severity Index (CSI) which considers the number of crimes and their seriousness. Crime such as a homicides are weighted higher.

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Peel’s overall CSI, while up 8 per cent compared to 2022, stands at 51.41, which is below both Canada and Ontario, which stood at 80.45 and 60.88 respectively, Peel police said.

The region’s violent CSI decreased by 3.48 per cent compared to 2022 due to fewer homicides, police said. It stood at 67.34, again below Canada and Ontario, which were at 99.45 and 78.52, respectively.

Peel’s non-violent CSI jumped by 15.9 per cent compared to the previous year, standing at 45.48, but again remained lower than national (73.54) and provincial levels (54.34).

Data is also looked at through a “weighted clearance” metric, which measures the number of crimes solved and is similar to the CSI in that more serious crimes are weighted more.

Credit: Peel police

The region had the highest overall weighted clearance and violent clearance for populations over one million, police said, but it’s not all good news.

“Peel showed a decrease in weighted clearance of 11.22 per cent, possibly due to an increase in auto theft, which have a low clearance rate,” the service noted.

And compared to Canada and Ontario, which stood at 34.6 and 37.99 respectively, the region’s weighted clearance was lower at 34.19.

The violent clearance rate in Peel was 57.8, which was higher than the national level (53.84), but lower than the provincial level (58.6), police said.

And non-violent clearance in Peel stood at 20.21, lower than both Canada and Ontario, which were at 24.2 and 26.1, respectively.

Peel Region’s total crime rate per capita stood at 3,164, which was below Canada at 5,843 and Ontario at 4,454.

The violent crime rate per capita in Peel was 758, lower than both Canada (1,427) and Ontario (1,055), the service said.

Credit: Peel police

Credit: Peel police