City and Lethbridge police respond to having country's highest Crime Severity Index
A report from Statistics Canada showed that Lethbridge has the highest Crime Severity Index (CSI) in Canada for the second year in a row.
The report came out on July 27, giving Lethbridge a score of 138.7, more than 20 points higher than Winnipeg, which occupies second spot with 116.3.
It's not the news the city was hoping for, but officials are looking for positives.
"When you look at this report, obviously we have to share the good news, which is that the crime severity index is on a downward trend as it is in many parts of the country," said Lethbridge's Chief of Police, Shahin Mehdizadeh.
"Plus, crime is actually down by about 10 per cent in Lethbridge, which is also good news."
Lethbridge Chief of Police Shahin Mehdizadeh
Lethbridge was at 142.8 on the CSI in 2019, dropping three per cent for 2020.
However, Lethbridge saw 764 drug offences in 2020, a 24 per cent increase from 2019.
The majority of Lethbridge's crime rates maintained the same from 2019 or even dropped with the overall crime rate decreasing by 10 per cent.
Chief Mehdizadeh is hopeful that this trend will continue.
"In 2021, we're actually starting to see a more significant decrease in crime trend in the city which is, again, good news for this city."
The CSI is calculated by the volume of crimes reported to police, along with their seriousness.
It also only includes cities with municipal police forces, leaving out some large communities like Red Deer and Grande Prairie, which are enforced by the RCMP.
"Constantly referring to Lethbridge as the number one crime city in Canada does us no good in terms of our reputation and it's false," said Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman.
Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman, July 28, 2021
"There are half a dozen cities in Alberta that have higher crime rates than Lethbridge," Spearman added, "but they're policed by the RCMP."
For 2020, Red Deer has a CSI of 165.6 and Grande Prairie sits at 164.9.
According to both Chief Mehdizadeh and Mayor Spearman, a big reason for Lethbridge's high rank is property crimes linked to opportunity.
Both officials say this can be fixed with a little help from the community.
"We all have to do our best to mitigate crime," said Spearman.
"We're making sure that our vehicles and our homes are as secure as they can be, that they're not just opportunities waiting for people to happen."
"I can have 1,000 police officers in this city, but if people still leave their keys in their vehicles, leave their doors open, then crime is going to happen," Mehdizadeh told CTV News.
The LPS and the city are hoping to put more officers in crime hot spots and getting more help from the citizens will help ensure Lethbridge doesn't take the top spot next year.
For more information on this years CSI, you can visit the Statistics Canada website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.