Citizen staff
Prince George crime numbers continue to decline but are still higher than the provincial average in most areas, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.
The crime severity index, which measures all Criminal Code violations including traffic, as well as drug violations and all federal statutes, ranked Prince George at 131.02 in 2014, down from 177.95 in 2010.
The crime severity index measures changes in the level of severity of crime from year to year based on the seriousness. The level of seriousness is based on actual sentences handed down by the courts. More serious crimes are assigned higher weights.
The per cent change in severity index has continually seen an annual decline in Prince George for the past four years. In 2011, it fell 11.62 per cent, in 2012, it decreased by 4.11 per cent, in 2013, it plummeted 9.22 per cent and the index number for last year is 4.29 per cent lower than the previous year.
The violent crime severity index has declined in Prince George from 195.01 in 2010 to 118.17 in 2014. Last year, the index number for Prince George dropped 21.27 per cent from 2013.
The non-violent crime severity index actually increased by 2.75 per cent in 2014, reversing several years of decreases. Overall, that index is down from 173.39 in 2010 to 135.43 in 2014.
Prince George is significantly higher across the board than the provincial average but the decreases since 2010 have brought the city closer to the norm.
Since 2010, B.C.'s crime severity index has fallen by 12.5 points, while Prince George dropped 46.93 points in the same time period.
Similar results were seen in both violent and non-violent crimes.
In the past five years, the violent crime severity index has decreased by 76.84 points in Prince George, compared to 26.99 across B.C. During the same time, the non-violent crime severity index in Prince George fell 35.96 points, compared to just 7.42 for the province.
