The last time our crime rate was this low, we were fighting the Soviets in hockey?s Summit Series and Justin Trudeau?s dad was prime minister.
Police-reported crime is down again across Canada, falling another 3% in 2012, figures from Statistics Canada show.
That?s the lowest level of crime since 1972.
And an index that tracks more violent crimes, such as murder, also fell by 3% last year.
One way of looking at it?
The per-capita ratio of homicides now is little more than half its level a generation ago, with 1.56 murders per 100,000 people in 2012 compared to 2.72 in 1985.
Statistics Canada says the decline in the 2012 crime rate is because of a drop in crimes such as mischief and break and enter.
But that rate has been dropping overall for some time, says one observer, and it?s hard to explain exactly why.
?This is a long-term trend. We don?t understand why it is, I don?t think anyone does,? said Anthony Doob, a criminologist at the University of Toronto.
?Sometimes things go up a little bit, sometimes things go down . . . but the reality on this one is that in general the trend seems to be in a downward direction, for whatever reason.?
The drop in crime isn?t exclusive to Canada. Other Western nations, including in Europe, have seen their crime rates fall as well, Doob added.
While most crime was on the decline, among the violent crimes that rose in 2012 were extortion, firearms offences and sexual violations against children.
There was also an unusually high number of terrorism-related offences in 2012, up to 114 from 55, largely because of terrorism hoaxes during student demonstrations in Quebec, police reported,
Canada?s largest crime drop was in Saskatchewan, but the prairie province still had the highest crime rate and highest crime severity index.
Of Canadian cities, Kelowna, B.C., overtook Regina with the highest crime rate after a 6% hike and Toronto, the nation?s largest city, had the lowest rate after a 7% decrease in overall reported crime.
In London, the drop in the crime rate mirrored national numbers, down 3%, while more serious crimes were down 5%. Those numbers cover the wider London metro area, which includes St. Thomas.
Windsor bucked the big-city Southwestern Ontario trend, with both its crime rate and severe crimes jumping ? by 4% and 7%, respectively.
Overall crimes committed by youth also fell in 2012. Statistics Canada says 11,000 fewer youths were charged, which is a drop of 7% and violent crime for youth fell by 6%.
? With files from QMI Agency
kelly.pedro@sunmedia.ca
twitter.com/KellyatLFPress
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