{
  "id": "csi-police-service",
  "category": "Safety",
  "title": "Police-reported crime in the City of Victoria (Crime Severity Index)",
  "geography": "City of Victoria (Victoria Police Department, Victoria municipal police service; Esquimalt counted separately since 2020)",
  "scope": "city",
  "levels": [
    "Police services (municipal)",
    "Provincial and federal justice policy"
  ],
  "plain_question": "Taking both how much and how serious police-reported crime is, how does the City of Victoria compare with B.C., and is it going up or down?",
  "value": 161.18,
  "display_value": "161.2",
  "unit": "Crime Severity Index (Canada 2006 = 100)",
  "period": "Calendar year 2025",
  "period_start": "2025-01-01",
  "period_end": "2025-12-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "Calendar year 2024",
    "previous_value": 152.17,
    "change_percent": 5.9
  },
  "breaks": [
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "label": "Esquimalt counted separately from 2020"
    }
  ],
  "compare_text": "About 1.7 times the B.C. figure (92.4)",
  "since_text": "Was 152.2 in 2024. About 1.7 times the B.C. figure (92.4)",
  "trend": "worsening",
  "trend_basis": "161.2 in 2025 compared with 152.2 in 2024 (+5.9%, Statistics Canada's published change). B.C. as a whole: 92.4 in 2025 (was 93.9). Victoria's figure is about 1.7 times B.C.'s. Violent crime index: 172.5 (was 162.2). Non-violent crime index: 158.0 (was 149.4). Esquimalt, policed by the same department but counted separately: 41.0 (was 45.0).",
  "direction_good": "down",
  "right_direction": "A lower number means less, or less serious, police-reported crime.",
  "caveats": [
    "From 2020 on, this figure covers the City of Victoria only. Statistics Canada's note: starting in January 2020, the Victoria Police Department began reporting crime in Esquimalt so that Esquimalt could be counted separately; before that, Esquimalt's incidents were included in Victoria's figures. Years before 2020 are therefore not directly comparable (marked on the chart). Earlier versions of this site described the whole series as Victoria and Esquimalt; that was wrong for 2020 onward.",
    "The index is set so that Canada in 2006 equals 100. It weights each crime by how serious it is, so a few serious crimes count more than many minor ones.",
    "Downtown Victoria is a regional centre for work, shopping, nightlife and services. Crime counts include incidents involving people who live elsewhere, but the index is calculated against the City's resident population only, which raises it compared with largely residential areas.",
    "The index counts only crime reported to or found by police. Changes in reporting or police practices can move it.",
    "The Greater Victoria (metropolitan) index on the Police-reported crime page is a different, wider area and is shown for context.",
    "The chart starts in 2003, the year the Victoria Police Department began policing Esquimalt: the population it serves rises from 77,382 in 2002 to 94,312 in 2003 in Statistics Canada table 35-10-0077-01. Earlier years covered the City only and are not shown."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Crime Severity Index: City of Victoria compared with B.C.",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "index (Canada 2006 = 100)",
      "breaks": [
        {
          "period": "2020",
          "label": "Esquimalt separate from 2020"
        }
      ],
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "City of Victoria",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 225.97
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 221.74
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 201.85
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 211.39
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 193.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 177.32
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 163.19
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 159.54
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 132.91
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 125.26
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 101.24
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 112.03
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 135.24
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 116.63
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 111.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 117.15
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 128.62
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 162.61
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 153.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 154.37
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 170.56
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 152.17
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 161.18
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "British Columbia",
          "area": "bc",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 154.69
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 153.38
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 146.31
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 139.79
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 132.42
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 121.81
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 111.85
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 104.13
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 96.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 94.53
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 87.71
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 90.18
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 92.65
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 91.69
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 87.06
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 88.65
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 103.95
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 97.02
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 96.44
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 100.32
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 104.57
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 93.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 92.37
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Esquimalt (from 2020)",
          "area": "vicpd",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 41.8
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 47.51
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 43.8
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 42.87
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 45.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 40.99
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "City of Victoria: violent and non-violent crime",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "index (Canada 2006 = 100)",
      "breaks": [
        {
          "period": "2020",
          "label": "Esquimalt separate from 2020"
        }
      ],
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Violent crime",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 194.74
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 174.69
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 145.42
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 167.03
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 157.36
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 168.02
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 178.8
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 186.99
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 150.17
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 130.65
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 105.42
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 108.54
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 144.46
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 115.56
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 117.25
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 122.38
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 105.87
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 148.33
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 181.02
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 161.22
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 145.44
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 162.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 172.53
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Non-violent crime",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 237.98
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 239.84
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 223.55
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 228.44
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 206.85
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 180.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 157.19
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 148.99
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 126.36
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 123.03
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 99.51
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 113.07
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 131.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 116.74
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 108.49
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 114.99
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 136.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 167.36
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 143.8
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 152.94
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 182.04
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 149.45
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 158.01
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2003",
      "value": 225.97
    },
    {
      "period": "2004",
      "value": 221.74
    },
    {
      "period": "2005",
      "value": 201.85
    },
    {
      "period": "2006",
      "value": 211.39
    },
    {
      "period": "2007",
      "value": 193.1
    },
    {
      "period": "2008",
      "value": 177.32
    },
    {
      "period": "2009",
      "value": 163.19
    },
    {
      "period": "2010",
      "value": 159.54
    },
    {
      "period": "2011",
      "value": 132.91
    },
    {
      "period": "2012",
      "value": 125.26
    },
    {
      "period": "2013",
      "value": 101.24
    },
    {
      "period": "2014",
      "value": 112.03
    },
    {
      "period": "2015",
      "value": 135.24
    },
    {
      "period": "2016",
      "value": 116.63
    },
    {
      "period": "2017",
      "value": 111.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 117.15
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 128.62
    },
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 162.61
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 153.5
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 154.37
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 170.56
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 152.17
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 161.18
    }
  ],
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually (published in July)",
  "data_published": "2026-07-22",
  "source": {
    "name": "Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (police services in British Columbia), table 35-10-0063-01",
    "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510006301",
    "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/0d856434-39e2-45ff-a974-cbcf94e45e91",
    "table_url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510006301",
    "table": "35-10-0063-01",
    "publisher_page": "https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/subjects-start/crime_and_justice",
    "locator": "Statistics Canada table 35-10-0063-01: Victoria municipal police service, Crime severity index, 2025"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
    "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
  },
  "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 35-10-0063-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T01:29:16Z",
  "licence_type": "open",
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "The change is 5.9% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "Calendar year 2024",
      "value": 152.17,
      "text": "vs 2024: +5.9%"
    },
    "five_year": {
      "period": "2020",
      "years": 5,
      "value": 162.61,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 2020: −0.9%"
    }
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "outcome",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "worse",
    "label": "Worse",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 5.9,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "Calendar year 2024",
    "cur": "Calendar year 2025",
    "why": "The change is 5.9% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "change": "5.9%",
    "one_year": "+5.9%",
    "five": {
      "period": "2020",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": -0.8794047106574052,
      "text": "−0.9%",
      "years": 5
    }
  },
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "outcome",
  "better_measure": null,
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 5,
    "rung_name": "No target found",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "none",
        "label": "No target found",
        "text": "No target for this Crime Severity Index found in the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan (February 2026) or the Victoria Police Department’s strategic plan page, as of November 12, 2026. Who could set one: the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board, with the City, and the Province of B.C.",
        "area": "Victoria and Esquimalt",
        "source": {
          "title": "Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan",
          "publisher": "Province of B.C.",
          "date": "February 2026",
          "url": "https://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2026/sp/pdf/ministry/pssg.pdf",
          "terms": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
          "refresh": "Yearly, with the provincial budget (February)",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "pssg_sp"
        },
        "documents_checked": [
          {
            "title": "Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan",
            "publisher": "Province of B.C.",
            "date": "February 2026",
            "url": "https://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2026/sp/pdf/ministry/pssg.pdf",
            "terms": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
            "refresh": "Yearly, with the provincial budget (February)",
            "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
            "checked": "2026-11-12",
            "key": "pssg_sp"
          },
          {
            "title": "Victoria Police Department strategic plan page",
            "publisher": "Victoria Police Department",
            "date": "viewed November 12, 2026",
            "url": "https://www.vicpd.ca/About%20Us/strategic-plan-2026",
            "terms": null,
            "refresh": "Not on a schedule",
            "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
            "checked": "2026-11-12",
            "key": "vicpd_plan"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "kind": "related",
        "label": "Related target",
        "text": "Related target, not drawn: the same plan aims to lower B.C.’s violent Crime Severity Index to 90.4 in 2026, 88.6 in 2027 and 86.8 in 2028, and the non-violent index to 89.6, 87.8 and 86.0. Those targets apply to all of B.C. and split violent from non-violent crime, so they are not drawn on this chart.",
        "area": "British Columbia",
        "source": {
          "title": "Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan",
          "publisher": "Province of B.C.",
          "date": "February 2026",
          "url": "https://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2026/sp/pdf/ministry/pssg.pdf",
          "terms": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
          "refresh": "Yearly, with the provincial budget (February)",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "pssg_sp",
          "page": 8
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      },
      {
        "kind": "compare",
        "label": "Comparison, not a goal",
        "area": null,
        "source": null,
        "documents_checked": null,
        "text": "The British Columbia line is shown for comparison. It is not a goal."
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "benchmarks": [
    {
      "rung": 2,
      "kind": "related",
      "label": "Related target, not drawn: the same plan aims to lower B.C.’s violent Crime Severity Index to 90.4 in 2026, 88.6 in 2027 and 86.8 in 2028, and the non-violent index to 89.6, 87.8 and 86.0. Those targets apply to all of B.C. and split violent from non-violent crime, so they are not drawn on this chart.",
      "short": null,
      "document": "pssg_sp",
      "page": 8,
      "area": "British Columbia",
      "fit": "text_only",
      "same_area": false,
      "related_reason": "Different unit, definition, period or area; written under the chart, not drawn.",
      "document_url": "https://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2026/sp/pdf/ministry/pssg.pdf",
      "applies_here": false,
      "same_measure": false
    },
    {
      "rung": 4,
      "kind": "comparison",
      "label": "The British Columbia line is shown for comparison. It is not a goal.",
      "fit": "full",
      "drawn": true,
      "area": null,
      "applies_here": false,
      "same_measure": true
    }
  ],
  "highest_rung": 4,
  "no_target_found": {
    "documents_checked": [
      "pssg_sp",
      "vicpd_plan"
    ],
    "checked_on": "2026-11-12",
    "who_could_set": [
      "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board, with the City, and the Province of B.C."
    ]
  },
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "POL",
      "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board",
      "decides": "Oversees the Victoria Police Department, appoints its chief constable and prepares its budget.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa26",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 26",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section26"
        },
        {
          "key": "pa27",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": {
        "text": "Provisional budget due to the councils by November 30, 2026 (Police Act, s. 27)",
        "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
        "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
      }
    },
    {
      "body": "COV",
      "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt councils",
      "decides": "Approve the police board’s budget. If they reject an item, either side can ask the Province to decide.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa27",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        },
        {
          "key": "pa27d",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27 (3)",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Sets standards for policing.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa40",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 40",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section40"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "CAN",
      "name": "Government of Canada and Parliament",
      "decides": "Makes criminal law.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "crim",
          "label": "Criminal Code (Part XVI, release before trial; Part XXIII, sentencing)",
          "url": "https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "worse",
    "label": "Worse"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "same",
    "label": "About the same",
    "years": 5,
    "change": "−0.9%"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 4,
    "text": "No target found · B.C. 92.4",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": "B.C. 92.4",
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": null
  }
}