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Halton, the safest place to live: Statistics Canada By Nicole O'Reilly METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Is Halton Region really the safest place to live? Last month, when Statistics Canada released its annual crime severity rankings, Halton once again came out on top as the safest regional municipality. The region has seen a significant drop in crime over the past decade, even as its population grew. In 2001 there were 17,791 crimes committed in Halton, at a rate of 4,559 crimes per 100,000 people. By last year, that number had dropped by more than 2,000, with 15,507 crimes committed at a rate of 2,990 crimes per 100,000 people. This includes decreases across the board for violent crime, property crime and almost every category of crime, save a handful. Halton has also been ranked four years in a row as the safest regional municipality in Canada and the safest community in the Greater Toronto Area by Macleans magazine. But if you go beyond the rankings and comb through detailed crime statistics over the past 10 years, is Halton really safer? The answer, for the most part, is yes. Crime in almost all categories is down, but the dynamic of the community and how it is policed has changed as the region has evolved from small towns to large suburbs. "It's not quiet little Halton anymore," said Acting Police Chief Andrew Fletcher, adding that much has changed since he was a young officer in Georgetown 20 years ago. Statistics Canada compiled crime data for 2011 from 239 police services policing communities with a population greater than 10,000. In Halton Region, which includes Burlington, Oakville, Halton Hills and Milton, policing is a shared service. Fletcher said people sometimes don't understand that incidents are responded to in priority sequence. Everyone wants a cop there right away. Of most concern to Fletcher are the growing communities in the region's north end. While overall there were 78 weapons violations last year, down by more than 100 over 10 years, he is noticing an increase in weapons calls to the north end. And with more weapons, he fears drugs and gangs may follow. Marijuana drug offences are down, but offences for newer drugs such as methamphetamines have seen a slight increase. Yet, in most other categories, crime is either stagnant or down significantly. And it's not just that the number of actual crimes committed has dropped, but also the rate of crime per population -- which basically means that as the region's population has grown to more than 500,000, the likelihood of a resident becoming the victim of crime has dropped. With a population boom in the suburban communities, one might expect property crime rates to go up. But they have actually decreased by more than 1,000 incidents a year. Violent crimes are down, motor vehicle collisions are down and arsons are down. See Acting page 9 3 · Wednesday, August 22, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Acting Chief Andrew Fletcher, Halton Regional Police Service The region's population and cultural makeup, street traffic and the use of technology by criminals have all changed, along with the public's perception of crime and of the police. Gone are the days when criminals mostly committed crimes in their own communities -- crime is now borderless, he said. Also gone is the type of community policing where residents knew their neighbourhood beat officers by name. 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