Statistics Canada — through the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics — has released data ranking municipalities on the Crime Severity Index (CSI) for 2022, with Moose Jaw placing 41st out of 330 communities with a population greater than 10,000.
In comparison, Moose Jaw ranked 37th in 2021 with a CSI rating of 127.18, which means it dropped four places year over year.
In 2020, the municipality’s CSI rating was 59th nationally, while in 2019 the city's CSI rating was 59th nationally.
The index refers to a measure of police-reported crime that reflects the seriousness — violent or non-violent — of individual offences, tracks changes in crime severity, and gives a weighted rating to each incident. For example, a minor theft could be rated a one and a murder could be rated 1,000.
Nationally, North Battleford placed first for the second-straight year with an overall CSI rating of 557.1. That was an increase of nearly 14 percentage points compared to 2021.
The other Saskatchewan communities on the list included Prince Albert in fifth spot, Yorkton in 23rd place, Saskatoon in 39th spot, Moose Jaw in 41st spot with a CSI rating of 120.98, Regina in 51st place, Swift Current in 73rd spot, Weyburn in 99th spot, Estevan in 107th place, Warman in 297th spot, and Martensville in 316th place.
The Statistics Canada report for 2022 shows Moose Jaw’s overall CSI rating was 120.98, which was a 3.66-percentage-point drop compared to 2021 when the overall rating was 125.57.
Broken down, the community’s violent CSI rating last year was 101.94, a 15.41-percentage-point increase compared to 2021 when the CSI rating was 88.33.
Meanwhile, the non-violent CSI rating last year in Canada’s Most Notorious City was 129.61, which was an 8.42-percentage-point decrease compared to two years ago when the non-violent CSI rating was 141.52.
Moose Jaw’s total CSI rating has climbed steadily since 2013, according to data from the Moose Jaw Police Service. From 2013 to 2020, the values have been 98, 91, 99, 116, 107, 121, 110 and 104.
Meanwhile, the community’s violent CSI rating from 2013 to 2020 has been 45, 57, 69, 84, 73, 101, 86 and 70.
(Editor's note: This story has been edited to fix an incorrect number).
