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Darren Boyer, May 4 2023

The Most Dangerous Cities In Alberta - April 2023 Edition

Wait! The most current crime data is now from August 2023. To see the latest you may want to visit - The Highest Crime Rates In Alberta – August 2023

Of these six cities, Edmonton and region had the highest overall crime rates.

Edmonton residents experienced 3459 property crimes during April. This is 3.42 crimes per 1,000 residents. Half of the cities in Alberta had less than 2.01 crimes per 1,000 residents.

This difference between the Edmonton crime rate, and what half the cities experienced, comes to an extra 1,332 crimes in a single month.

If the costs for crimes is  $1,000 per incident, total crime costs for April would be 3,459 crimes *$1,000 per incident = $3,459,000. The additional 1,332 crimes would be $1.3 Million of that $3.4 Million. 

If the average crime cost per crime is $5,000 the total crime costs would be 3,459 crimes * $5,000 = $17,295,000. The additional 1,332 crimes in Edmonton compared to most cities cost taxpayers over $6.6 Million.

Residents in the city of Edmonton spent somewhere between $1.3 Million to $6.6 Million more for crime because their crime rate was so much higher than other cities in April. 


Edmonton Region - Cost Center of Alberta

In the Edmonton region Leduc County was #1, Calmar #2, Edmonton #3, Bon Accord #4, Legal #5, and Fort Saskatchewan #6.

The red line in the chart shows that half the cities in the province had a property crime rate below this level.

Some of those cities below the red line are right beside Edmonton and are places like Leduc, Beaumont,  Spruce Grove, and Sherwood Park.  Other cities like Airdrie, Brooks, Chestermere, and High River are also much safer communities.

Calgary – Distant Second

The Edmonton region had more than double the crime rate compared to the Calgary region when measured as crimes per 1,000 residents. The top 10 regions in Calgary had only 1.10 crimes per 1,000 residents, while the top 10 regions in Edmonton had 2.87 crimes per 1,000 residents.

Differences like this across an entire region should focus everyone in Edmonton very clearly. If their neighbours, just three hours south of them in the same province, can have half the property crime, so can they.

This data is a little off as the Calgary Police Service had only released December’s property crime data as of May 4 when this date was compiled.

Still, taking the average of all 10 cities, towns, counties and reserves using April’s data and the December data for Calgary the picture is very consistent. Crime in all of the places in the Calgary region is clearly down. Below are the top 6 locations for property crime. 

Comparing the Calgary region chart to the Edmonton region chart shows very noticeable differences in community safety between the two regions.

City Crime –Get These Six Cities To Be As Safe As The Rest of Alberta and Save Tens of Millions

These six cities below had triple the total property crimes as the rest of Alberta combined. Its not just because they are cities either. There are ten other cities that ranked much lower than these six.

Cold Lake, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Wetaskawin, Edmonton, Calgary property crimes when added together comes to 7,462 in April.

The rest of Alberta had only 2,539 property crimes. Not only were the property crimes in these six cities triple what the rest of Alberta experienced, the crime rate per resident was almost twice as high as the rest of the province.

Theses top 6 cities had 3.05 crimes per 1,000 residents while the rest of Alberta had only 1.69 crimes per 1,000 residents.  This is a crime rate that is 180% higher per resident!

Town Crime – The 6 Highest Crime Rates in Alberta

Towns can quickly become the most dangerous places in Alberta when looked at on a crime rate per population basis. The 6 highest crime locations per resident and the 6 highest town crime rates are both shown below because they are almost identical.

(Towns or villages with less than 1,000 residents are not shown in these charts.)

Rural Crime – The Best Place To Live in Alberta

Apparently most criminals can’t afford vehicles. Rural crime is much lower than town or city crime. Here are the 6 highest locations for rural locations.

These locations were MD of Opportunity, Improvement District No. 9, Leduc County, Bighorn No. 8, Lac La Biche County, and Samson Cree Nation.

Keep in mind this chart is on a per resident basis. Total crimes for all 6 of these rural areas combined was 133 in April, far behind the 7,462 property crimes the six highest crime cities of Cold Lake, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Wetaskawin, Edmonton, and Calgary experienced.

Reserves are compared against other rural crime counties, municipal districts and special areas in the rural crime chart.

Comparing Regions of Alberta

Crime rates for any regions not already shown using the regions below.

Central Alberta

The communities with the highest crime in central Alberta were Mayerthorpe, Barrhead, Alberta Beach, Wetaskiwin, Rocky Mountain House, and Westlock.

Eastern Alberta

The locations with the highest property crime were MD of Opportunity, Bonnyville, St Paul, Athabasca, Cold Lake and Lamont.

Southern Alberta

The crime rate in the Alberta Badlands area and Southern Alberta areas of the province is so low, both areas are combined.

The highest crime locations in the Alberta Badlands and Southern Alberta regions were:

Grande Prairie

The highest crime locations in the Grande Prairie, Peace River and Northern Alberta regions were:

Valleyview had the highest crime rate, followed by High Prairie, Peace River, Sexsmith, Beaverlodge and Grande Prairie.

Rockies

Ranking The Highest Crime Locations Across Alberta

Below are 162 cities, towns and counties ranked from the highest crime to the lowest.

The list shows the ranking in April, then the name of the Municipality, then the crimes per 1,000 residents, and the last number is the total reported crimes.  

A 2 beside the name shows a community with less than 1,000 people.

Ranking | Municipality| Crimes per 1,000 Residents| Reported Crimes

1 Viking2 7.53 7
2 Smoky Lake2 7.26 7
3 MD of Opportunity 7.23 23
4 Caroline2 6.47 3
5 Rycroft2 6.37 4
6 Bonnyville 5.47 35
7 Valleyview 5.38 9
8 Mayerthorpe 5.30 7
9 St Paul 5.29 31
10 Barrhead 5.09 22

11 Athabasca 5.07 14
12 High Prairie 5.07 13
13 Sunchild 2022 5.05 4
14 Improvement District No. 9 4.98 5
15 Cold Lake 4.92 77
16 Peace River 4.53 30
17 Leduc County 4.28 59
18 Lamont 4.25 7
19 Hinton 4.07 40
20 Alberta Beach 3.93 4

21 Bighorn No. 8 3.73 6
22 Wetaskiwin 3.71 47
23 Sexsmith 3.71 9
24 Rocky Mountain House 3.70 25
25 Calmar 3.66 8
26 Lac La Biche County 3.65 28
27 Westlock 3.62 26
28 Samson Cree Nation 3.56 12
29 Flagstaff County 3.48 13
30 Edmonton 3.42 3459

31 Red Deer 3.39 342
32 Bon Accord 3.27 5
33 Edson 3.10 26
34 Beaverlodge 3.08 7
35 Thorhild County 3.07 10
36 Stettler 3.06 17
37 Slave Lake 2.86 19
38 Legal 2.81 4
39 Drayton Valley 2.76 20
40 Yellowhead County 2.73 30

41 Alix 2.72 2
42 Calgary* 2.71 3364
43 Grande Prairie 2.70 173
44 Banff 2.55 20
45 O'Chiese 2.53 2
46 Olds 2.50 23
47 Bassano 2.49 3
48 Ponoka 2.46 18
49 Fox Creek 2.44 4
50 Fort Saskatchewan 2.44 66

51 Devon 2.43 16
52 MD of Greenview 2.40 22
53 Lamont County 2.40 9
54 Beaver Lake 1312 2.39 1
55 Wood Buffalo 2.39 171
56 Enoch Cree Nation 2.37 4
57 Vegreville 2.28 13
58 Minburn County No. 27 2.27 7
59 Hay Lake 2092 2.27 2
60 Lac Ste. Anne County 2.20 24

61 St. Albert 2.20 150
62 Unipouheos 1212 2.19 2
63 Whitecourt 2.16 21
64 Onoway 2.07 2
65 Northern Sunrise County 2.05 4
66 Ermineskin 138 2.04 5
67 Penhold 2.01 7
68 Fairview 2.00 6
69 St. Paul County 1.99 12
70 Three Hills 1.97 6

71 Rimbey 1.95 5
72 Big Lakes County 1.94 11
73 Wainwright 1.91 12
74 County of Barrhead 1.91 12
75 Beaver County 1.86 11
76 Redwater 1.85 4
77 Leduc 1.82 62
78 Brazeau County 1.81 13
79 Strathmore 1.74 24
80 Red Deer County 1.74 34

81 Saddle Hills County 1.73 4
82 Beaumont 1.68 35
83 Brooks 1.68 25
84 Cardston 1.67 6
85 Spruce Grove 1.67 63
86 Stony Plain 1.67 30
87 Westlock County 1.66 12
88 Innisfail 1.63 13
89 Sylvan Lake 1.63 26
90 Crowsnest Pass 1.61 9

91 Fort Macleod 1.61 5
92 Claresholm 1.59 6
93 Coalhurst 1.57 5
94 Bowden 1.56 2
95 Blackfalds 1.53 16
96 Bruderheim 1.50 2
97 Lethbridge County 1.45 15
98 County of Grande Prairie 1.43 32
99 Strathcona County 1.41 138

100 Sherwood Park 1.39 138
101 Pincher Creek 1.37 5
102 Parkland County 1.37 44
103 Vermilion River County 1.33 11
104 Ponoka County 1.33 13
105 Wembley 1.32 2
106 High Level 1.27 4
107 Improvement District No. 24 Wood Buffalo2 1.26 1
108 Woodlands County 1.26 6
109 Cypress County 1.24 10
110 Rocky View County 1.22 48

111 Smoky Lake County 1.22 5
112 Canmore 1.21 17
113 Airdrie 1.19 88
114 Clearwater County 1.18 14
115 County of Westaskawin 1.16 13
116 Siksika 146 1.15 4
117 Sundre 1.10 3
118 Sturgeon County 1.10 22
119 Delburne 1.09 1
120 MD of Bonnyville 1.09 14

121 Athabasca County 1.02 8
122 Chestermere 1.01 21
123 Stoney Nakoda First Nation 1.01 4
124 Eckville 0.99 1
125 Vermilion 0.98 4
126 Pincher Creek No. 9 0.94 3
127 Camrose County 0.94 8
128 Bentley 0.93 1
129 Foothills County 0.92 21
130 Coaldale 0.91 8

131 Wheatland County 0.91 8
132 Redcliff 0.90 5
133 Okotoks 0.86 26
134 Crossfield 0.83 3
135 Special Area No. 4 0.81 1
136 Kneehill County 0.80 4
137 Newell County 0.77 6
138 Saddle Lake 125 0.75 3
139 Drumheller 0.75 6
140 Louis Bull 138B 0.74 1

141 Black Diamond 0.73 2
142 Gibbons 0.66 2
143 Jasper 0.65 3
144 Clear Hills 0.63 2
145 Morinville 0.58 6
146 Cochrane 0.56 18
147 Mackenzie County 0.54 6
148 High River 0.47 11
149 Didsbury 0.46 6
150 Wainwright No. 61 0.45 2

151 Lacombe County 0.45 6
152 Lac La Biche 0.43 1
153 Mountain View County 0.38 5
154 Stettler County 0.38 2
155 County of Forty Mile 0.28 1
156 Willow Creek No. 26 0.17 1
157 Taber 0.12 1
158 Bashaw 0.00 0
159 Berwyn 0.00 0
160 Bow Island 0.00 0

161 Castor 0.00 0
162 Nanton 0.00 0
163 Alexis 1332 0.00 0

Congratulations to all those who live and work in those communities that experienced zero property crimes in April!

Where These Charts and Data Came From

There are over 300 Municipalities in Alberta counting Villages and Reserves. We gather all the RCMP data, Calgary Police Service Data and Edmonton Police Service data that is publicly available. The goal is to report on the major areas and trends, not every single village.

Of the 300 RCMP reported areas this report covers 163 of the larger ones. The crimes are then compared to the population to get the crimes per 1,000 residents.

This method helps make the easiest comparison between locations. This method is also what the FBI uses to look at crime across America.

Calgary*

Calgary data is only available as recent as December 2022.

Calgary Property Crime Data

Commercial Robbery 20
Property Crimes 3746
Fraud (402)
Total 3364

Edmonton Property Crime Data
Break and Enter Commercial 162
Break and Enter Residential 289
Graffiti 18
Mischief - Property 510
Property Damage 7
Robbery Commercial 34
Theft of Motor Vehicle 432
Theft Over $5000 90
Theft Under $5000 1917
Total 3459

Notes About The Data

2- These are communities with a population lower than 1,000. They were not included in the crime ranking charts.

Independent police services like the Lethbridge Police Service, the Lacombe Police Service, and The Medicine Hat Police service do not seem to report the property crime rates publicly and are not included in these rankings.

If there is a way to access data for these and any other police services please put a comment below..

Hythe property crime was included in the County of Grande Prairie's count. Grande Cache property crime was included in the MD of Greenview's count. Grande Centre was included in the Cold Lake data.

Due to the difficulties in collecting this data some locations in Alberta may not be included.

Summary – Get Crime Close To Normal In These Six Cities And Save Tens of Millions

Edmonton crimes rates lead the way in the province and cost residents at least an extra $1.3 Million to $6.6 Million in April. The entire region of Edmonton also has hot spots that cause it to have over double the crime rate per resident than the Calgary region. Such a waste is unnecessary.

It isn’t just Edmonton that is a black eye to the province though. The six cities with the highest crimes rates have triple the crime what all other cities in Alberta, and the rest of Alberta have combined.

Cold Lake, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Wetaskawin, Edmonton, Calgary property crimes added together came to 7,462 in April.

The rest of Alberta had only 2539 property crimes. Not only were the property crimes in these six cities triple what the rest of Alberta experienced, the crime rate per resident was almost twice as high.

Theses top 6 cities had 3.05 crimes per 1,000 residents while the rest of Alberta had only 1.69 crimes per 1,000 residents.

Getting crime down in these six cities to even within 50% of what the rest of the province experiences would be 2.5 crimes per resident. Instead of 7,462 crimes, getting to within 50% of the crime rate of the rest of the province would have been only 6,100 total crimes. This would reduce the property crimes in the province by over 1,300 every month.

Lowering the crime rate in the top six cites by 50% would save tax payers anywhere between $1.3 Million every month and $6.5 Million per month.

At Lightcatch our experience has been any property can be insulated from property crime with the right tools in place.

Whether a city, town or county we’ve also seen well over a 50% drop in property crime when a community is willing to engage in a safe legal manner.

The Lightcatch website has free information as well as paid solutions that eliminate the risk of property crime.

If every home and business were to implement this approach there would be much safer places to live, work and drive.  The costs savings in Alberta alone would be in the hundreds of millions every year and would soon benefit every taxpayer.

Let me know in the comments if this kind of reduction seems possible and believable!  Is a total burden cost of $5,000 per property crime reasonable?  I didn't look up the number but recall someone else providing a study that used this number.

Written by

Darren Boyer

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