InteriorNEWS THE
108th Year - Week 33
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Wednesday, August 19, 2015
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The Hanson brothers get an ovation at the Celebrity Hockey Game Thursday. The event was part of a fundraiser for a rebuilt maternity ward at Bulkley Valley District Hospital. Story on page A13. Chris Gareau photo
Smithers sees crime rate fall but higher severity By Xuyun Zeng Smithers/Interior News
New Statistics Canada data shows that the crime rate of Smithers fluctuated slightly but the average crime severity has gone up compared to last year. Statistics Canada said the Crime Severity Index provides a qualitative analysis by assigning varying weights to offences, hence more severe crime can cause greater fluctuations. Compared to 2013, urban Smithers saw a 20.8 per cent increase in 2014, while rural Smithers saw 35.8 per cent increase.
“The crime rate ... actually declined very slightly but the severity of the crimes that were reported to the police increased. It would appear that domestic violence is a factor in these statistics,” Smithers RCMP detachment commander Staff Sgt. Rob Mitchell said. The crime rate dropped in urban Smithers by 1.68 per cent while it rose by 1.52 per cent in rural Smithers. But Mayor Taylor Bachrach says this statistic shouldn’t stir too much concern in the public. “Because it’s a small population, there can be some statistical anomaly year-toyear, if for instance you have a couple of very severe incidents,” Mayor Bachrach
said. “I don’t think these numbers point to a trend that we need to be any more concerned than usual.” “I think overall, we live in a very safe community.” Assault, uttering threats and harassing or obscene phone calls contributed the most to this year’s violent crimes within the Index, and half of the reported assaults were between family members, Statistics Canada said. Both the mayor and the detachment commander agree that domestic crime is a cause for concern. “The one thing that we have heard from the RCMP is that domestic violence is still a big concern in our community,” Mayor
NDP INCUMBENT ELECTION INSIGHTS NDP incumbent Nathan Cullen talks up his priorities in our election series.
DIELEMAN SETS SWIM RECORD Bulkley Valley swimmer sets swim record at Parapan Am Games.
REBUILDING AFTER THE FIRE Business owners affected by the Main St. fire are making a comeback.
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Bachrach said, “and that’s something, as mayor, I find very troubling,” The RCMP wants to combat this problem by involving partner agencies. “We are involving victim services as much as possible, there’s education underway in the community, we’ve also implemented the ICAT (Integrated Case Assessment Team) system which is a multi-disciplinary approach where the police works with other agencies in an effort to combat domestic violence,” Staff Sgt. Mitchell said. Mayor Bachrach has also noticed an issue with “poor public behaviour” downtown. See CRIME on A3
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