Police are still reeling from a decade of austerity funding cuts.
The Crime Severity Index is calculated like a crime rate, but different crimes are given a different weight, or importance, based on their severity.
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Recent data from Statistics Canada shows crime rates in Canada rising. Crime has become a hot-button political issue in Canadian cities. But what does the data actually mean?
A photo from a demonstration calling for police accountability and an end to police brutality in Vancouver, in May 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The greedy tendencies of police departments help illustrate why public police funding is a major problem today in Canada and the United States.
A big driver of rising police pay across the United States is overtime for managing protests, political rallies and other public events.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty
The prestige the role of detective once had has been eroded and needs to be restored.
Bicycle police officers keep an eye on Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto on Sunday, May 24, 2020. Warm weather and a reduction in COVID-19 restrictions has many looking to the outdoors for relief.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young