Cochrane jumped more than 100 spots on Maclean’s Most Dangerous Places in Canada 2019 list, mostly due to property crime. It’s placement, 33 out of 237 compared to last year’s 139 out of 229, is based on a score – a five-year change in the Crime Severity Index. It’s a measure by Statistics Canada of all police-reported crime with consideration of crime volume and seriousness of offenses. The most recent list is based on 2017 data which was released in July 2018. While the climb into the top quarter may seem like an astounding spike in crime, most of the actual incidents it calculated into its statistics, have fluctuated very little. For example the number of robberies jumped from four incidents to six. The number of assaults went to 78 from 79 and impaired driving crept up only marginally to 124 from 121 incidents. What’s most significant is the change in the number of reported break and enters – to 82 from 42 incidents. Sgt. Tom Kalis of Cochrane RCMP said this could be for a number of factors and doesn’t necessarily mean break-ins are on the rise. For one, Kalis said the way break and enters are reported by officers is broadening, meaning incidents that might not have been categorized as one in the past are now. “We’re doing a better job of actually reflecting the occurrences and offenses,” Kalis said. Police are now ensuring that a break-in to an attached garage, for example, is being categorized as a break and enter. “That wasn’t being accurately captured,” Kalis said. “I think we’re making a lot of improvements in our office with our data entry and with a more accurate reflection of what’s going on in our community. So that might be part of the factor that’s going on.” Additionally, Kalis said the community might be stepping up more than before in reporting break-ins. “Part of the issue with the stats is that it reflects how often it’s being reported by people and also whether we’re doing a better job of apprehending people who are doing these things,” Kalis said. When police arrest a suspect, they also revisit other places the suspect has been and investigate whether they are linked to other crimes that happened in the past in those areas that weren’t reported. If they are they can be charged for it. “It does happen to us where we have identified break-ins that weren’t reported,” Kalis said. “As far as an increase to break and enters, I’ve actually noticed a decrease in the last little bit, and that’s break and enters to homes.”
