Police Reported Crime: Notes, Definitions
& Symbols
Actual Incidents: Incidents are reported based on the most serious
crime committed. The result is that an incident can represent
more than one crime. Actual incidents refer to instances where
police have been able to collect evidence that a crime has actually
been committed and is the remainder of reported incidents minus
those incidents which proved to be unfounded.
Adults: Individuals
aged 18 and older.
Clearance Rate: The total number of incidents cleared by charge or otherwise divided
by the total number of actual incidents occurring in a given year.
Due to the length of time required to clear some incidents not
all incidents cleared are for the current reporting year. It is
therefore possible to have a clearance rate of 100% or greater.
Cleared by Charge: Instances where a police investigation of an
incident leads to a person being formally charged.
Cleared Otherwise: In some cases the police are unable
to formally charge individuals in relation to an incident. This
includes cases of diplomatic immunity, the complainant refusing
or unable to press charges or the offender dies before they can
be formally charged.
Most Serious Offence: In categorizing offences, violent crimes always
take precedence over non-violent crimes. For violent crimes a
separate incident is recorded for each victim. For non-violent
crimes one incident is counted for every distinct occurrence.
Robbery is the only exception as it is categorized as a violent
crime but only one incident is reported regardless of the number
of victims. Therefore total incidents is the sum of the number
of victims of violent crimes (excluding robberies) plus the number
of non-violent crimes committed plus the number of robberies.
Persons Charged: Persons charged represents the number
of people charged as the result of an incident. In some cases
an individual can be charged with more than one offence. In this
case only the most serious offence is reported.
Rate per 1,000 Population: The rate per 1,000 population is calculated
by multiplying the number reported by 1,000 and dividing by
the July 1, population for the reporting year.
Regional Statistics: Information at a regional level is determined
using statistics reported by RCMP detachments throughout the Northwest
Territories. The result is that counts and rates for Yellowknife
and the Regional Centers of Hay River, Inuvik & Fort Smith
may be slightly higher depending on the other communities that
are covered by their particular RCMP detachment. Conversely the
counts and rates reported for the Other Communities may be slightly
under stated. For example the Yellowknife RCMP detachment is responsible
for Detah and the Ingraham Trail and as such not all reported
incidents necessarily occurred in Yellowknife.
Symbols:
Youth: Individuals
aged 12 to 17 years of age.
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