Crime severity in Manitoba last year higher than national average, data shows

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This article was published 27/07/2023 (821 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba experienced an increase in crime severity last year, significantly higher than the national average, Statistics Canada data released Thursday reveals.

A new report shows Manitoba was up 14 per cent on the Crime Severity Index. The index rose four per cent across the country.

The index measures changes in the level of severity of crime from year to year; all crimes are assigned a weight based on their seriousness, the agency says on its website.

The level of seriousness is based on actual sentences handed down by the courts in all provinces and territories.

An increase in the number of homicides, firearm offences and violent assaults had a major impact on the picture in Manitoba.

“The Crime Severity Index numbers can appear startling, but there are a number of contextual factors that need to considered when one looks at this data,” RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel wrote in an email Thursday.

“One such factor is the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence when it comes to increases in crime numbers…. These numbers are not reflective of Manitoba alone.”

Altogether, the CSI across Canada rose by four per cent last year, reaching the highest point since 2007. The overall volume and severity of police-reported crime declined amid pandemic-induced lockdowns, but had previously risen nearly 20 per cent since 2015, the report noted.

“The consecutive increases recorded in the overall CSI may indicate a return to the upward trend in crime observed before the start of the pandemic,” it said.

In Manitoba, the rate of petty theft, robbery and breaking and entering appeared to rise dramatically between 2021 and 2022. However, they are relatively stable when compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The same is being seen across Canada, with rates of such crimes remaining generally lower than before 2019, the report said.

Of concern for Manitoba is the number of homicides, which showed the second-largest national increase, rising from 62 in 2021 to 88 in 2022 — the highest in provincial history. Of those, nearly 60 per cent occurred in Winnipeg.

Also on the rise when compared to pre-pandemic levels are provincial firearms offences, which have skyrocketed by 57 per cent since 2019. Violent assaults have similarly increased by 32 per cent in the same frame.

Sexual assaults in Manitoba and across the country have consistently risen since at least 2017, with the exception of a slight decrease in 2020.

Manitoba RCMP has agreed to an upcoming interview with the Free Press to further explore the data and compare it to what officers are experiencing in the line of duty.

“The Manitoba RCMP looks forward to discussing these numbers in more depth to assure communities that public safety is always our top priority, and we continue to work with communities to set policing priorities,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca