Calgary crime stats dropped by 15 per cent in 2024: report
Article content
According to data published on Tuesday, the city's crime severity index decreased by 14.9 per cent between 2023 and 2024, reflecting fewer homicides, sex offences, youth-related offences and robberies.
Article content
Article content
'What the data is telling us is that our efforts to increase our policing presence across the city, combined with our early-integration and intervention programs are making a difference,' Calgary police chief Katie McLellan was quoted in a release shared on Thursday. 'The key moving forward will be to continue bolstering our presence to ensure Calgarians feel safe everywhere in our city.'
Article content
Article content
The index shows a 9.96 per cent decline in violent crimes committed across the city and a 16.48 per cent decline in non-violent crimes committed.
Article content
Article content
In 2024, the city earmarked $1.9 million to go towards improving public safety in the building, prompted by mounting concerns over social disorder and crime in the city's downtown core and along its LRT lines. The one-time funding was portioned into grants supplied to downtown civic partners such as the Calgary Public Library, Arts Commons, Contemporary Calgary Arts Society, Fort Calgary Preservation Society, MNP Community Sports Centre, Telus Convention Centre and Vecova Centre for Disability Services and Research.
Article content
Article content
'By collaborating with our partners, we are able to address the complex challenges in our downtown with compassion,' Jyoti Gondek, Calgary mayor, said in 2024.
Article content
The release however noted that hate crimes are up by 42 per cent, an increase official stress is due to more reporting, not higher incidence.
Article content
'It's encouraging that more people are stepping forward. Silence is no longer acceptable,' said Kay Choi, who leads The City's Community Safety & Wellbeing Priority. 'Reporting these crimes is essential if we want to address them head-on. It shows that people trust the system and expect better.'
Article content
The city and the police also opened a downtown community counter and expanded safety hub in November 2024 as a walk-in option for Calgarians to report non-emergency concerns or ask for safety guidance in person.
Article content
On Friday, 23 Calgary police officers and 29 peace officers will graduate, the release adds, adding to more boots on the city streets. The city has added 50 new police officers and 65 new transit peace officers since January 2024.
Article content
The added officer presence has resulted in 12 per cent fewer downtown safety response calls, 60 per cent fewer overdose responses by the Calgary fire crew. According to recent public surveys, 75 per cent of Calgarians now say they feel safe, the release stated.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Calgary Herald
Bell: Calgary crime and grime in our faces and we get more city hall baloney
More political manure is shovelled our way this day. Article content When will Calgary city hall wake the hell up? Only the votes of Calgarians will pierce through their privileged cocoon. Article content Article content Dan McLean is a Calgary city councillor known for pitching puzzlers to the city hall establishment — a group of handsomely-paid seat warmers who often appear either clueless or look like they just don't give a damn. Article content Article content McLean kicks off the Tuesday city council meeting asking a city bigshot about what's up with all this crime and social disorder where even Calgary city hall's propaganda machine can't make us believe the city is on its way to Disneyland. Article content Article content 'It was a long-winded answer and I can't even tell you what it was about.' Article content Well, what was it all about? Talking points patting the heads of Calgarians. Now, now. Article content When people are 'unwell' that can 'increase people's sense of discomfort,' says the bigshot, taking a page out of the latest hug-a-thug pop psychology book. Article content But people are feeling better. Article content Yep, that's Calgary city hall. Dismissing the verdict of the court of public opinion. The worst it's ever been. Article content You can't really blame McLean. Article content McLean's truck was one of several vehicles stomped on by some jerk in East Village. The episode even made it on Instagram. Article content Article content During Stampede, someone tried to steal his truck. Article content Ah, the East Village. Article content Article content Back in the day, it was called urban blight when you could see streetwalkers in the same part of town as a legendary gym, a well-known fish market, the firefighters union office, the Golden Age Club offering up music and bingo, the old-school King Eddy missed by many and the St. Louis. Article content Now there are new shiny apartment blocks and lovely shops mixed in with a three-ring circus of crime and grime and daily disorder too numerous to count, with the Calgary Drop-In Centre providing its own sad and often dangerous spectacle. Article content McLean knows the area. It's right out back from city hall. Article content 'I've seen people die. They pulled the bodies away,' says McLean.
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Calgary Herald
Graphic of the week: How Calgary's crime index compares
Last week, Statistics Canada released its crime severity index for 2024, which showed a substantial drop in severe crime in many cities, including Calgary. Article content According to the data, Calgary's index fell by 14.9 per cent from the previous year, reflecting fewer homicides, sex offences, youth-related offences and robberies. Article content Article content Calgary police Chief Katie McLellan said the number show that 'our early-integration and intervention programs are making a difference.' Article content Article content The improvements come as the city continues work on the 28 recommendations made by the Downtown Safety Leadership Table in March 2024 to make the city safer. Recommendations included amping up police presence, supporting vulnerable populations and strengthening emergency response and enforcement. Article content A deeper dive into the Statistics Canada data spanning 25 years shows how Calgary compares to other cities. Over that period, Calgary's place on the index peaked in 2019. Since then, severe crime has been on the decline, according to the data. Article content Winnipeg, Kelowna, B.C., Saskatoon and Regina have consistently been ranked near the top of the index, while Quebec, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa have been at the lower end. Article content It's important to note that the numbers aren't a reflection of overall crime rates or levels of social disorder in cities. Unlike traditional crime rates, which simply count the number of reported crimes, the index assigns a weight to each crime based on its severity and the length of sentences handed down by criminal courts.
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Man charged after vehicles stomped on in Calgary's East Village
Calgarians who recently had their vehicles vandalized—including a city councillor—say incidents like this happen far too often, with little being done.
