Winnipeg was three times safer than Flin Flon last year.
You were also three times more likely to be the victim of a violent crime in our community than in the provincial capital.
And drugs? Far more prevalent on the streets of Flin Flon than in the ’Peg.
Each of these statements is technically true if we consider only the 2015 crime data recently released by Statistics Canada.
But no serious person would go around taking these dry facts to heart. As the late former British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli is alleged to have said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
Which isn’t to say anyone is deliberately lying. Nor is it to suggest we should dismiss the seemingly growing number of Flin Flonners concerned or affected by crime.
As The Reminder reported this week, Flin Flon’s overall crime rate shot up 21 per cent in 2015. Violent crime increased 14 per cent. Of six similar-sized communities across Canada, Flin Flon had a significantly higher crime rate than all but one.
Flin Flon’s break-and-enter rate was particularly worrisome. Not only was it significantly worse than in those six communities, it was also notably higher than in both The Pas and Thompson.
While some residents attempt to portray as nervous nellies those Flin Flonners who install home security systems, such statistics illustrate legitimate apprehension about property security.
Taking a “there’s nothing to see here, folks” approach to crime in Flin Flon would be inappropriate. Clearly there are things happening crime-wise in our community that are not happening to the same degree in other communities.
That’s not a criticism of the Flin Flon RCMP, by the way. I have personally observed how proactive our police officers are in dealing with even minor offences such as public drunkenness. Unfortunately, I often think the Mounties are expected to be miracle workers, omnipotently scouring the streets to foil crime before it happens.
The fact that Flin Flon’s crime rate is unflattering when stacked up against a selection of similar-sized communities is indeed cause for concern and contemplation. How could it not be?
At the same time, those statistics do not mean that Flin Flon is an unsafe community. They just mean that those other communities are, statistically speaking, safer.
And statistics, as Benjamin Disraeli would agree, are only part of the story. I know people in Flin Flon who never lock their doors because they feel so safe; I know others who won’t go into a convenience store without locking up their car because they do not feel safe.
Safety is a feeling we have inside about our surroundings. It’s based on past experience, perception and intuition. It’s not something number-crunchers can easily quantify.
Fortunately, despite the statistics and those sporadic occurrences of serious crime, most Flin Flonners still enjoy that feeling of safety.
It’s highly doubtful that anyone has ever moved away from Flin Flon because of crime. Conversely, I have known people who moved here from other northern communities largely to escape crime.
Flin Flon welcomes those folks with open arms. We can’t guarantee they’ll never fall prey to crime, but the last time I checked, no other community on earth could, either.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
