Statistics Canada Report on Police Forces in Canada

Yesterday, Statistics Canada released a report on Police Resources in Canada, 2007.

Highlights:

• In 2007, police services saw the second largest annual increase in the number of police officers in the past 30 years in Canada. There were over 64,000 police officers in Canada in 2007, a 2.7% increase from the previous year.
• The largest percentage increases in police strength between 2006 and 2007 were seen in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, each up 6%. Over the past decade, Newfoundland and Labrador (+15%) and Saskatchewan (+12%) have seen the biggest gains in police strength.
• Despite recent increases, police officer strength has remained relatively stable over the past 30 years. In 2007, the rate of 195 officers per 100,000 population was 5% lower than the peak of 206 reached in 1975.
• Saskatchewan continued to report the highest rate of officers per capita (207 per 100,000 population), followed by Manitoba (204) and Quebec (198). The lowest rates were reported in Prince Edward Island (164), Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta (both 165).
• Police clearance rates, one measure of police performance, have increased in each of the past two years. In 2006, police cleared (solved) 36% of all Criminal Code incidents, up from 32% in 2004. Similarly, clearance rates for violent crime have increased from 69% in 2004 to 72% in 2006. However, clearance rates for violent crimes had generally been declining since peaking (76%) in the mid-1990s.
• The number of female officers continued to rise (+6%) in 2007 at a faster pace than the number of male officers (+2%). Females now account for almost one in five officers in Canada, compared to approximately one in ten a decade ago.
• In 2006, expenditures on policing totalled $9.9 billion, a 4.4% increase over 2005 after adjusting for inflation, resulting in a cost of $303 per Canadian. This was the tenth consecutive constant dollar increase in policing costs, increasing an average of 3% annually.
• Ontario ($268) and Quebec ($246) reported the highest per capita costs for municipal and provincial policing, while Prince Edward Island ($149) and Newfoundland and Labrador ($165) had the lowest.