Prince George City Councillor will be attending conference on the Crime Severity Index

PRINCE GEORGE—City Councillor Trudy Klassen will be heading to Saskatoon to take part in a crime severity conference. The conference, initiated by the Mayor of North Battleford, will discuss the publically released crime severity index, something he believes gives community an unfair reputation to smaller communities.

While, Prince George has faced signficant violent crimes in the first two months of 2024. A gun robbery at the Hart Husky gas station, two drive by shootings, and the second homicide of the year on February 13. David Gillan, The Mayor of North Battleford argues that due to Prince George’s smaller population the ranking is more heavily skewed in the rankings compared to a large metropolitan city like Vancouver.

Additionally, the top five highest ranking communities on the index have a signficant number of indigenous people.Gillian suggests that this could create a stigma around indigenous communities as place with a heavy amount crimes.

Gillian says that the index is complex and is often misinterpreted by people making it mor difficult for the communities high up on the list to attract new talent, business, and families causing the communities economy to stagnate.