New Brunswickers now have a new online resource to find information about crime statistics in the province.
The Public Safety Crime Dashboard breaks down incidents by crime, police forces or by specific years with details on reported crimes since 2016.
The dashboard includes violations against persons and property, criminal code traffic violations and drug crimes.
The site uses data from Statistics Canada and is designed to be interactive and user-friendly.
“Keeping people informed is key to having them engaged in issues that matter to them and their communities,” said Justice and Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming.
“Community leaders and members of the public have told us they want more access to information about crime in their areas. This is one way we are working to provide increased insight.”
The site provides a summary of the Crime Severity Index (CSI) in which all crimes are assigned a weight based on their seriousness.
The CSI shows police-reported crime in New Brunswick is 35 percent higher than it was five years ago.
The province’s CSI has also been the highest in Atlantic Canada for four consecutive years and is higher than the national index.
“Providing communities with details about crime rates in their area will improve the overall understanding of police-reported crimes, improve transparency and enhance confidence through the creation and use of open data in New Brunswick,” Flemming said.
