Crime in Alberta communities policed by the RCMP dropped to its lowest level since 2014 last year, according to new figures from Statistics Canada.
The province’s RCMP jurisdictions saw their Crime Severity Index fall 10.4 percent from 2024 to 2025, the Alberta RCMP said in a news release on Friday. The CSI measures both how much crime happens and how serious it is, giving heavier weight to more serious offenses.
Nearly three quarters of Alberta’s 149 jurisdictions (72 per cent) recorded a lower score, the RCMP said. Break and enters, the single largest contributor to the index, fell 19 per cent with 2,027 fewer incidents reported than the year before.
“We’re encouraged to see Crime Severity Index scores continuing to decline across Alberta,” said superintendent Mike McCauley, the officer in charge of the Alberta RCMPs crime reduction strategy. He says the drop reflects the work of officers, partner agencies and residents.
“Public safety is a shared responsibility,” McCauley said.
The RCMP says it uses CSI data to plan long term strategies. It pointed to tools such as drones, its Real Time Operations Centre and ground-level teams that tackle the root cause of crime. In May, the provincial government gave the force an extra $2 million. Part of that money funded a new Rural Organized Crime Team, which targets gang, drug and firearm activity at vulnerable communities.
The 10.4 per cent figure covers only RCMP policed areas, such as the rural communities around Medicine Hat. The city itself is policed by the Medicine Hat Police Service, it is not included. Across all of Alberta, Statistics Canada reported the CSI fell about seven per cent in 2025.
By Brook Wagner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Jul 27, 2026 at 21:44
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