South Simcoe Police Clearing Most Violent Crimes

Some reasons to crow over at the South Simcoe Police HQ. New numbers show the Police Service is clearing far more violent crimes than before, at a whopping 92 per cent. That is about 26 per cent more than in 2016, despite a violent crime rate increase of about 32% last year over the year before.

Deputy Police Chief Robin McElary-Downer attributes this rise to the entire team, from the front line officers to the Criminal Investigations Bureau and Street Crimes Unit. “Everyone is in it for the same reason: to make a difference, and to make a difference every day in the places we serve.”

The South Simcoe Service is in line with other police agencies across Canada when it comes to solving non-violent crimes, at about 42 per cent. Deputy Chief McElary Downer says police do have to prioritize violent crime over non-violent ones “certainly the violent crimes, that’s a priority one call and the less violent, if we’ve got the priority one calls on the go, the less violent take second seat. But we still get to all our calls for service, without question.”

This comes as the Service also notes a seven per cent decline in its Crime Severity Index, one of two metrics used to measure police-reported crime. Meanwhile, the Barrie Police Service crime severity index remains the lowest in Canada at 45.3 per cent.