| Chief of Police Armand P. La Barge |
| York Regional Police |
| 17250 Yonge Street, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada L3Y 4W5 1866-8POLICE TTY 1-800-668-0398 Fax 905-853-5810 www.yrp.ca |
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THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF YORK POLICE SERVICES BOARD REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE 29 AUGUST 2007 __________________________________________ Re: 2006 National & Provincial Crime Statistical Comparison __________________________________________ RECOMMENDATION:
Our current reporting practice includes presentation of York Regional Police crime statistics in semi-annual and annual statistics reports and a separate provincial and national comparison/ranking report based on data obtained from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS), a division of Statistics Canada. The 2006 Annual Statistical Report was presented at the April 25, 2007 meeting of the Police Services Board. The national and provincial comparison is compiled utilizing data from CCJS that has been provided from police services in Canada based on the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey. The timing of the release of the Statistics Canada publication upon which the rankings are based occurs mid-year and the aggregate methodology of data collection utilized differs from the incident-based methodology upon which our Annual Statistical Report is based. Therefore, the national and provincial comparison is being presented in a separate report, as attached. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Not applicable. BACKGROUND: The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) collects data from police services in Canada compiled based on the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) survey. The original survey developed to collect data was "aggregate-based" and was implemented in 1962. The aggregate methodology collects data based on the most serious offence which occurs in an incident. Using this methodology, less serious offences are under-represented. Also, in some cases, offences are located in different crime categories depending on the type of reporting methodology used (ie. based on the aggregate method of reporting, Mischief is counted under Other Criminal Code whereas it is considered a Crime Against Property using the incident-based reporting). Over time, it was felt that there were limitations to the aggregate method of data collection. In response to the concerns of Canadian Police Chiefs that aggregate based statistics were not a true reflection of crime in Canada, an incident-based survey tool was developed and implemented in 1988. York Regional Police started reporting incident-based crime data in 1992. The incident-based survey (UCR2) collects detailed data based on the incident, up to the four most serious violations which occur along with the characteristics of the incident; such as the property removed, values of theft and damage, weapons involved in violent offences, along with many other data elements. The vast majority of police services in Canada now report incident-based data to CCJS. Police services have switched over from the aggregate to the incident-based survey as their records management systems have become capable of providing the level of detail required. There are, however, some small services, that still do not report incident-based data, possibly due to the financial implications of conversion. Unfortunately, this means that in order for Statistics Canada to produce their Uniform Crime Reports, they must convert all incident-based data to aggregate for an accurate comparison, hence the reason their crime statistics publications are reported in this manner. At the April 25, 2007 meeting of the Police Services Board, the 2006 York Regional Police Annual Statistical Report was presented and after several years of annual increases, the report indicated that the overall incident-based Crime Rate (total number of Criminal & Federal Violations excluding Traffic per 100,000 population) decreased for the third consecutive year, dropping 5.1 percent in 2006 from 2005. The overall incident-based Total Criminal Code Clearance Rate increased 3.8 percent in 2006. By comparison, the 2006 Crime Statistics as produced by Statistics Canada utilizing the aggregate method of data compilation reported a drop in the York Regional Police Crime Rate of 3.3 percent and an increase in the clearance rate of 2.1 percent, by virtue of the different methodologies of reporting used. The table below shows the difference in the 2006 Crime and Clearance Rate categories over 2005 figures. 
The following is a summary of the findings of the analysis of the ranking of the York Regional Police CCJS Crime Rate and Clearance Rate data: The national comparison/ranking was made based on data from 7 other police services including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Montreal, Saint John, and Halifax. The 7 services compared at the provincial level were Durham, Toronto, Peel, Halton, Waterloo, Hamilton, and Niagara. 
A more detailed summary of the CCJS National and Provincial Crime and Clearance Rate rankings is attached to this report. We are pleased to see such positive trends in both our Crime Rate and Clearance Rate rankings over the past five years. Both the incident-based and aggregate-based methodologies of data compilation reflect these positive trends. They are a direct reflection of the strides we have made in law enforcement, crime prevention, community safety initiatives and in building bridges between all our communities. We recognize that our success would not be possible without the continued support of the Police Services Board, Regional and Local Council, our community partners and the citizens of York Region who help us to ensure York Region still remains one of the safest communities in Canada in which to live, raise a family, visit and conduct business. Attachement |
Respectfully submitted, Armand P. La Barge, Chief of Police. |