Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 03/01) - Crime rates were up 12.6 per cent in the Northwest Territories between 1999 and 2000, although violent crimes and property crimes fell in the same period.

The new numbers were released by Statistics Canada July 19. Violent crime dropped 4.9 per cent from 1999 to 2000, while property crimes dropped 1.6 per cent in the same period.

A story in a July 27 Yellowknifer story mistakenly referred to 1999 statistics instead of the most recent 2000 statistics.

The Northwest Territories continues to have the highest crime rate in the country, with 27,190 Criminal Code offences per 100,000, more than three and a half times the national average of 7,655 per 100,000.

The population of the Northwest Territories is 42,000, but the crime rate is adjusted to reflect the rate per 100,000 for easier comparison with other jurisdictions.

The figures included violent crime like murders and sexual assaults, property crimes like car theft and burglaries, and other Criminal Code offences, such as prostitution and arson. The figures did not include traffic offences.

Newfoundland had the lowest crime rate, with 5,711 offences per 100,000, and Saskatchewan had the highest rate among the provinces, with 12,730 offences per 100,000.

Nationally, the crime rate fell by one per cent in 2000, compared with the year before. The overall decrease was due primarily to a five per cent drop in property crime -- violent crime increased three per cent, and drug offences increased nine per cent. The national crime rate has been falling since 1991.