StatsCan data shows Sudbury's crime in 2018 at a 5-year high

Newly released data from Statistics Canada states Sudbury is well above the provincial average when it comes to per-capita crime rates.

Last year, per-capita crime incidents in Sudbury were 31 per cent higher than the provincial average. An incident is defined as the occurrence of one or more criminal offences during a single, distinct event.

Just over 2.6 adults for every 100 Sudbury residents were charged with a crime in 2018. That is 62 per cent higher than the average in the rest of Ontario. 

The numbers come as no surprise to Greater Sudbury Police Service Chief Paul Pedersen.

"We can feel it on the streets that our business is complicated, complex and busy," he said. 

"The social determinants of crime and the social determinants of health very much coincide. Things like food insecurities, things like poverty, mental health, addictions, all of those contribute negatively toward health, they also contribute negatively toward crime. When you compare us to some of the more affluent areas of the province there's no surprise that we would trend higher." 

Unfounded rate among the lowest in the country

The rate of unfounded incidents, those that the police determine not to have happened, became a national discussion after an investigation from the Globe and Mail found that the unfounded classification was being used by police departments across the country to dismiss sexual assault allegations. 

Only 1.2 per cent of Sudbury's reported incidents were considered unfounded. The national average was 6.16 per cent. 

Chief Pedersen says that changing the way that these incidents are categorized and also by looking at how the police service could make their interviews and investigations victim focused lead to strong performance in the category. 

"That had us take our unfounded rate from where it was one of the highest, down to one of the lowest," he said. 

Rates Trending Upward

Per-capita crime rates in Sudbury have been increasing each year since 2015, according to the data.

2018 saw a 4.4 per cent increase in per-capita reported incidents, and in 2017 the rate increased by 15.2 per cent over the year prior. 

"The state of crime in Sudbury is trending the way we expected it to. The increase is something we've been projecting all along," Pedersen said.

"There are some things that are within our control as a community, and some things that aren't," he said.

"Ultimately, all of the crime prevention strategies that we've got, all the reporting mechanisms that we have, a lot of this comes down to individual accountability. We really need people to hold themselves accountable and to obey the laws that are in place."