Halton Ranked Safest Regional Municipality in Canada

For the second year in a row, Halton is the safest place to live in the GTA and the safest regional municipality in Canada, according to Maclean’s 2009 crime ranking of our nation’s most dangerous cities.

“As police, we’re privileged to work in a region where local residents, municipalities, and business owners want to work collaboratively with us, and they are all keen to do their part to prevent and deter crime,” said Chief Gary Crowell, adding that crime rates can be influenced by many socio-economic factors beyond police control.

“To directly attribute the crime rate in any community, whether positive or negative, solely to the efforts of police would be inaccurate and unfair,” explained Chief Crowell. “What this Maclean’s ranking does do is validate that our officers, civilians, volunteers, local politicians, and community partners are all equally committed to keeping Halton as safe tomorrow as it is today.”

In 2007, the Halton Regional Police Service had 563 uniform and 224 civilian members, and responded to 113,203 calls for service, with a cost per capita for policing of $202.52. The Service is recognized around the world for its excellence in crime prevention and public safety initiatives.

Over the past year, Cst. Sue Bedard won the 2008 International Association of Women Police Award for Excellence in Performance, Sgt. Gary Gold was named the 2008 Crime Stoppers International Coordinator of the Year, and Cst. Al Stennett was honoured with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police Lifetime Achievement in Traffic Safety Award.

Maclean’s based its ranking on aggregate results of the 2007 per capita crime rates in six personal and property crimes: murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, breaking and entering, and auto theft from the Canadian Centre for Justice Studies.

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