Saanich is one of the safest municipalities in the country to live, according to crime stats released by Statistics Canada.

The municipality knocked 12.8-per-cent off its crime severity index (CSI), released in late July, which measures the seriousness of crime in 239 communities across Canada with populations greater than 10,000.

Saanich came in at No. 203, where the higher the number, the safer the community. Amherstburg, Ont., is statistically the safest place on the list with a ranking of 239. The least safe is North Battleford, Sask.

SaanichB次元官网网址檚 crime severity index came in at 44.5 in 2011 versus 57.3 the year before. Unlike the crime rate, which measures volume of crime, with the CSI, each offence is assigned a weight, and the more serious offences have a greater impact.

B次元官网网址�(This result) is certainly a credit to the hardworking men and women of this organization,B次元官网网址� said Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen.

While Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard applauded the officers in the municipality, he said thereB次元官网网址檚 more to decreasing crime than police work. ItB次元官网网址檚 the community-based approach to policing that makes a difference, he said.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got 115,000 people, almost all of them are our partners (against) crime. And if they feel that they have a community police department thatB次元官网网址檚 open to their input, their advice, their partnership, they can help us prevent crime,B次元官网网址� Leonard said. B次元官网网址淲e want our force to have more interaction with the good guys than the bad guys, and we put a lot of emphasis on it.B次元官网网址�

The mayor also said SaanichB次元官网网址檚 aging population plays a role in a low crime rate.

B次元官网网址淥ur demographic is in our favour. There are fewer young men in their 20s than there used to be, and young men in their 20s tend to break the law,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l give us some credit, but IB次元官网网址檓 realistic to know that the demographic is an advantage, as well.B次元官网网址�

Also ranked low in the 239 communities were neighbouring jurisdictions Oak Bay (209), Colwood (211), North Saanich (223) and Central Saanich (229).

Victoria was the highest-ranked community in the Capital Region at 30th in Canada, though even the city dropped 13 spots, seeing a 14-per-cent decrease in its crime severity index from 2010.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e proud of what we achieved, but we also recognize that more work needs to be done to reduce crime,B次元官网网址� acting VicPD Chief Del Manak said in a statement.

The Capital Region ranked 16th out of 33 metropolitan areas across the country for overall crime severity.

That placed Greater Victoria behind such regular crime leaders as Vancouver, Abbotsford-Mission and Kelowna, but worse than such larger cities as Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa.

B次元官网网址� with files from Daniel Palmer

kslavin@saanichnews.com