Canada's crime rate drops 7.4% in 2007

[J. Will]

http://statcan.ca/Daily/English/080717/d080717b.htm

StatsCan has released crime numbers for 2007. Almost every city saw a decrease in crime compared to 2006. Violent crime dropped 2.5%, and property crime dropped 7.7%.

Numbers by metro area, 500,000+



Numbers by metro areas, 100,000 - 500,000, and national totals

[NYC4Life]

Canada almost never fails to impress with those low crime stats. Perhaps, it can influence in decreasing the much higher crime rates here in the states.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Note that total rates are not comparable w/ US composite crime rates because the Canadian totals include all offenses (aside from traffic), including simple assault and all levels of theft. US crime rates are based only on the eight most severe "index offenses." If US rates comprised simple assault and minor theft it would be much, much higher. What IS comparable are the rates for individual offenses since for the most part they are defined similarly in the US and in Canada. Thus, for example, it's fair to compare murder rates in the two jurisdictions.

Of note in this regard is that Canada's "murder capital(s)" had murder rates that were less than one-twentieth those of the US's.