Crime severity data reveals North Bay is one of the safest cities in northern Ont.

Crime severity index drops in North Bay Data from Statistics Canada finds North Bay is still one of the safest cities in northern Ontario.

Data from Statistics Canada reveals that North Bay is still one of the safest cities in northern Ontario.

Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index shows that the severity of crime in the city has been steadily dropping for the past couple of years.

Police Chief Daryl Longworth presented the data to the police service’s board Tuesday morning. He said he was pleased to see overall crime severity down in 2023, compared to the two previous years.

“It's a good indicator to the members of the community that it is a safe community,” Longworth told reporters after the meeting.

Since the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the severity of violent crime has fallen by nearly 38 points and remains lower than in Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Greater Sudbury.

“We see a substantial difference in those numbers,” said North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico.

“We hope to continue to see that dropping.”

The data doesn't include crimes committed in 2024, including a handful of shootings and an attempted murder charge laid in relation to a North Pay police officer trying to stop and apprehend a driver in a vehicle.

“It’s not to say that we don't have crime here in North Bay," Chirico said.

"We certainly do have crime in North Bay. But it shows the work of our police department. They do a tremendous job."

The index tracks non-violent and violent crimes in Ontario and Canadian cities and compares it to other municipalities, allowing police forces to better understand crime and how best to allocate resources.

“The rest of those categories -- sexual assaults and assaults -- really has maintained a very comparable number to last year in that same time period,” Longworth said.

Still above provincial average

While the city’s overall crime severity rate is still higher than both the provincial and national average, Canada and Ontario are trending slightly upwards while North Bay’s numbers continue to decline.

“We can't pick the work we do. We respond to calls for service in the community. So, I think those numbers speak to the overall health of the community,” Longworth said.

In the wake of these numbers, North Bay police are continuing to bolster officer patrols downtown.

Members of the North Bay Police Service spent an average of two hours per month conducting foot patrols downtown from January to March. That number increased to an average of 25 hours per month from April to August.

“That makes me very proud as the chief, that our members are really delivering on what the community expects them to do,” Longworth said.

Chirico noted that the business community and people living in the downtown have noticed the increase in patrols, which in turn has made them felt safer.

“We hear from our merchants and we hear from our residents downtown that they're pleased to see that police presence in the downtown,” Chirico said.