The Yukon has seen an increase in severe crime despite experiencing an overall drop in the police-reported crime rate in 2017.

The territory’s crime severity index (CSI) is 189.3. That means severe crimes rose by one per cent last year.

The police-reported crimes rate has dropped, by six per cent as the rate sits at 20,781 per 100,000 population.

Allan Lucier, an assistant deputy minister of Justice, said in an interview the numbers change because crime rates are always fluctuating.

Addressing the drop, he explained that it would be difficult to tell why the police-reporting crime rate dropped.

It could have been the results of police efforts or preventative measures by other individuals. Some may not have reported instances or crime.

This rate includes all crime, from the more severe offences like homicide to the very minor mischief incidents. Lucier said the areas where crime has diminished are property crimes and minor cannabis possession.

The crimes that showed an increase are more severe in nature. These crimes attract more attention, and the Department of Justice wants to address them.

Severe crimes include but are not limited to homicide, sexual assault, aggravated assault and assault causing harm.

Lucier said these crimes carry more weight in the compilation of the CSI. He said this rate rose because there were more homicides in the territory last year.

“The fact that we had more homicides than we had in the previous reporting cycles gave us that increase,” he said.

As for the rate of crime that goes unreported, Lucier said that would be difficult to measure.

“To determine the exact number of crimes in any category not being reported, is always a difficult figure to find,” he said.

The RCMP and Department of Justice are always interested in receiving reports on crimes, he added, as it allows them to look at preventative measures or enforcement actions to foil crime.

Moving back to fluctuating rates, he said it is observable if you look at the rates from previous years done with the same methodology.

Lucier feels the biggest takeaways would be the methodology itself. These rates are calculated as per every 100,000 residents in a jurisdiction. What this means for the Yukon is one event will count as three, he explained.

He feels this methodology is fair, as it is standard across Canada but clarified that it will skew the results for the smaller jurisdictions like the three territories and provinces with small populations.

He says this is not to diminish the results, explaining that they are fair and can benefit the jurisdiction.

He explained that the methodology gives a decent year-over-year standard to evaluate trends in crime. This helps governments and police to prioritize strategies.

“It gives us an opportunity to dig into what opportunities are to be more effective on crime prevention,” Lucier said.

Moving forward, the department will be looking at prevention activity, he added. They will be partnering with community groups and the RCMP, and will consult with the Yukon Police Council.

Insp. Keith MacKinnon, the Whitehorse RCMP detachment commander, believes the statistics must be looked at carefully.

“The numbers are only as good as the science that goes into obtaining them,” MacKinnon said in an interview.

He said there are different factors that do not get captured in the stats, like repeat offenders or remand time.

The CSI methodology weighs the crimes based on the severity of punishment against the average length of a sentence. He feels this causes results to be skewed.

“It just gives you an idea that there are certain things that are not collected in the stats but they do have some value,” he said.

He too said there are a lot of different variables at play when trying to determine why police-reported crime decreases.

He pointed out it could be that less crime is being committed, or people may just not be reporting crime for whatever reason.

Looking at the latter, there are several reasons people may choose not to disclose a crime. MacKinnon said people may find other ways to address crime, or they may feel the offence is not important enough to call in.

Victims may fear retaliation or not want to get someone in trouble.

“There is a lot of reason why people don’t report,” he said.

MacKinnon agreed that the one per cent CSI increase was due to homicides last year. He hopes that the more serious crimes are still being reported to police.

He said the RCMP have initiatives they want to move forward with.

The CSI can show them trends in crime. These trends help police determine what crimes they should address based on the numbers. He said this is the crux of community policing.

“We like to keep on the upper edge of what services we are offering,” MacKinnon said.

Overall, he feels the CSI is a good tool to see how the Yukon compares to other parts of the country year over year.

The report listed the CSI and police-reported crime rate for every province and territory:

• Newfoundland and Labrador at 63, a nine per cent decrease;

• Prince Edward Island at 44, a seven per cent decrease;

• Nova Scotia with 65.9, a six per cent increase;

• New Brunswick with 69, an 11 per cent increase;

• Quebec at 57.1, a two per cent increase;

• Ontario at 55.4, a five per cent increase;

• Manitoba at 118.1, a three per cent increase;

• Saskatchewan at 140.5, a six per cent decrease;

• Alberta has a 110.1, a five per cent increase;

• British Columbia has 88.9, a five per cent increase;

• Yukon has 189.3, a one per cent increase;

• Northwest Territories at 303.8, a two per cent increase;

• Nunavut at 297.6, a one per cent increase; and

• Canada at 72.9, a two per cent increase.

The 2017 police-reported crime rate is as follows:

• Newfoundland and Labrador’s rate is 5,457, an eight per cent decrease;

• Prince Edward Island’s rate is 4,069, a five per cent decrease;

• Nova Scotia’s rate is 5,035, a three per cent increase;

• New Brunswick’s rate is 5,163, a nine per cent increase;

• Quebec’s rate is 3,359, unchanged from the previous year;

• Ontario’s rate is 3,804, a five per cent increase;

• Manitoba’s rate is 9,046, a two per cent increase;

• Saskatchewan’s rate is 11,396, a three per cent decrease;

• Alberta’s rate is 8,478, a four per cent increase;

• British Columbia’s rate is 7,417,a four per cent decrease;

• Yukon’s rate is 20,781, a six per cent decrease;

• Northwest Territories’ rate is 40,914, a one per cent increase;

• Nunavut’s rate is 34,948, a two per cent increase; and

• Canada’s rate is 5,334, a one per cent increase.