Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05HALIFAX263
2005-12-05 17:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Halifax
Cable title:  

HALIFAX TOPS IN VIOLENT CRIME RATE

Tags:  ASEC SOCI CASC CA 
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UNCLAS HALIFAX 000263 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC SOCI CASC CA
SUBJECT: HALIFAX TOPS IN VIOLENT CRIME RATE

UNCLAS HALIFAX 000263

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC SOCI CASC CA
SUBJECT: HALIFAX TOPS IN VIOLENT CRIME RATE


1. Halifax is the violent crime capital of Canada (based on
rate of crime per 1,000 population),according to the Canadian
Centre of Justice Statistics recently released General Social
Survey (GSS) on criminal victimization in Canada. The survey is
conducted every five years. The latest survey, done between
January and December 2004, involved roughly 24,000 randomly
selected Canadians. They were asked if, within the previous 12
months, they had been the victim of one of the eight following
offenses: sexual assault, robbery, physical assault, theft of
personal property, breaking and entering, motor vehicle/parts
theft, theft of household property and vandalism. The survey
seeks to capture a truer picture of the actual crime levels, in
that it considers both crimes that were reported to the police
and those that were not.


2. The eight offenses are broken down into two categories:
violent victimization (sexual assault, robbery, and physical
assault) and household victimization (the five other property
crimes). Nationwide the Canadian violent victimization rate was
106 per 1,000 population aged 15 years and over. At the
provincial level, Nova Scotia's rate of 157 fell just short of
the 160 in Alberta. Amongst metropolitan areas, Halifax's rate
of 229 (71,000 violent incidents) was the highest. While there
were more incidents in Toronto, its rate per 1,000 was 107. In
terms of property crimes ("household victimization"),the
highest rates were all in the West. Nova Scotia's rate of 232
per 1,000 was below the Canadian average of 248 per 1,000.


3. Both the Mayor and police chief pointed to repeat young
offenders as the principal source of crime. The Mayor, noting
that 32 new police have been hired in the last two years, said
he would seek a meeting with federal and provincial justice
ministers to try to toughen up youth offender legislation. The
police chief likewise called for a change in the youth justice
system, "They've committed as many as 40 new offenses while
they're on interim release from the courts, and it becomes like
fishing. You catch and release and you catch again and
release."


4. COMMENT: Despite the dubious prize in this contest, Halifax
remains a safe place to live and work. Hundreds of thousands of
American visitors annually have very few problems. The city is
also a popular liberty port for USN and USCG vessels and we have
had no reports of crime against U.S. personnel in years. END
COMMENT.
HILL