In an ongoing effort to address and reform the Crime Severity Index ranking system, Mayor Craig Copeland has been reappointed to the Crime Severity Index Committee. The committee consists of representatives from the 20 highest-ranked communities with populations over 10,000 residents, united in addressing the challenges posed by the current CSI ranking system.
According to a statement from the City of Cold Lake, the committee’s primary goal is to work on a public request to the federal government, urging a revision of how Statistics Canada reports communities’ CSI rankings.
“The goal is to begin working on a public request to the federal government to change the way Statistics Canada reports communities’ Crime Severity Index rankings,” the statement reads.
The agenda further elaborated on the disproportionate impact of the current system on smaller communities. “Due to lower populations, smaller communities, like ours and yours, are significantly impacted by one single ‘major’ crime and it skews a community’s publicly announced ranking in a very real and consequential way,” it explained. The committee aims to lobby the federal government to implement changes to the CSI.
Mayor Copeland expressed his dedication to the committee, acknowledging the proactive efforts of other members. “Some of the Saskatchewan mayors are really leading the charge on this one, doing a great job, but the idea is that they’re trying to set up a meeting in Calgary, so we’ll see if something happens. But I’m quite comfortable staying on this one. This might only be a committee for a short period of time, but it’s been interesting on this one,” Copeland stated.
The Cold Lake city council approved a motion to reappoint Mayor Copeland to the committee, reaffirming their commitment to advocating for a fairer and more accurate representation of crime severity in smaller communities.
