US embassy cable - 05HALIFAX263

UNCLAS HALIFAX 000263 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC, SOCI, CASC, CA, Crime 
SUBJECT: HALIFAX TOPS IN VIOLENT CRIME RATE 
 
1.  Halifax is the violent crime capital of Canada (based on 
rate of crime per 1,000 population), according to the Canadian 
Centre of Justice Statistics recently released General Social 
Survey (GSS) on criminal victimization in Canada.  The survey is 
conducted every five years.  The latest survey, done between 
January and December 2004, involved roughly 24,000 randomly 
selected Canadians.  They were asked if, within the previous 12 
months, they had been the victim of one of the eight following 
offenses: sexual assault, robbery, physical assault, theft of 
personal property, breaking and entering, motor vehicle/parts 
theft, theft of household property and vandalism.  The survey 
seeks to capture a truer picture of the actual crime levels, in 
that it considers both crimes that were reported to the police 
and those that were not. 
 
2.  The eight offenses are broken down into two categories: 
violent victimization (sexual assault, robbery, and physical 
assault) and household victimization (the five other property 
crimes).  Nationwide the Canadian violent victimization rate was 
106 per 1,000 population aged 15 years and over.  At the 
provincial level, Nova Scotia's rate of 157 fell just short of 
the 160 in Alberta.  Amongst metropolitan areas, Halifax's rate 
of 229 (71,000 violent incidents) was the highest.  While there 
were more incidents in Toronto, its rate per 1,000 was 107.   In 
terms of property crimes ("household victimization"), the 
highest rates were all in the West.  Nova Scotia's rate of 232 
per 1,000 was below the Canadian average of 248 per 1,000. 
 
3.  Both the Mayor and police chief pointed to repeat young 
offenders as the principal source of crime.  The Mayor, noting 
that 32 new police have been hired in the last two years, said 
he would seek a meeting with federal and provincial justice 
ministers to try to toughen up youth offender legislation.  The 
police chief likewise called for a change in the youth justice 
system, "They've committed as many as 40 new offenses while 
they're on interim release from the courts, and it becomes like 
fishing.  You catch and release and you catch again and 
release." 
 
4.  COMMENT:  Despite the dubious prize in this contest, Halifax 
remains a safe place to live and work.  Hundreds of thousands of 
American visitors annually have very few problems.  The city is 
also a popular liberty port for USN and USCG vessels and we have 
had no reports of crime against U.S. personnel in years.   END 
COMMENT. 
HILL