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July 28, 2017 - 7:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - If Kamloops' crime severity index was compared to the major cities across the country, it would lead the pack.
Statistics Canada released its annual crime severity index this week, which measures the volume and severity of crime, giving added weight to more severe crimes as defined by sentences and other factors.
Both violent and non-violent crimes rose significantly in Kamloops last year, according to Statistics Canada. The violent crime severity index is up a staggering 47 per cent last year compared to 2015.
The non-violent crime severity index is up more than 20 per cent.
StatsCan routinely compares these rates among the country's 34 largest metropolitan areas. That doesn't include Kamloops, but if it did, Kamloops would outrank them all. Regina leads the major cities with a crime severity index of 126, while Kamloops' is just over 128.
Kamloops would rank sixth in that list on violent crime alone.
Kamloops RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller declined an interview but said he would be address the crime statistics to local politicians at the police committee meeting on Monday, July 31.
Kamloops' crime severity index is measured at 128.06 for 2016, compared to 102.26 the year prior.
In the T'kumlups detachment, the crime severity index also rose by nearly 25 per cent in 2016. Violent crime rose by an overwhelming 93 per cent compared to the year prior, and non-violent crime rose by about 12 per cent.
That detachment's crime severity index is measured at 119.65 for 2016, compared to 95.75 the year before.
There were four homicides in Kamloops last year and a fifth in an outlying area. It’s not clear if that homicide was counted in the violent crime severity index.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017