Summerland Crime Severity Index on the rise

It looks like Summerland remains a pretty safe place to live, though the overall crime severity index is on the rise.

Related: Regional crime stats from RCMP perspective

According to the information released by Statscan, Summerland’s CSI is 64, up from 43.41 in 2012. That ranks the district as having the 24th largest CSI increase out of the 237 Canadian communities on the list.

Little of that comes from violent crime, though. Summerland’s violent crime index is 19, which is rising, but still far below the Canadian average of 75.25. According to the statistics, there were no murders, sexual assaults or firearms offences last year, but there were 29 assaults. Comparatively, that would be equal to 234.51 per 100,000 population, well below the Canadian average of 430.68 per 100,000.

Theft and property crime seems to be driving the rise in the CSI. While there were no out and out robberies reported, there were 78 incidents of breaking and entering. Compared to the standard, that’s 630.76 per 100,000, well above the Canadian average of 438.51.

Fraud was also a problem, with 32 incidents reported, giving a comparable rating of 258.77, versus the Canadian average of 299.05.