Prince George, B.C. – Prince George is within the national average of homicides if you look at the numbers from last year.

 

Stats Canada has released information indicating the murder rate in the country is on the way down.

 

In 2007 there were 594 homicides, that’s a dozen less than in 2006. It also means the national homicide rate is 1.8 for every 100 thousand people.

 

Of those deaths, police reported one in every five was gang related.

 

In Prince George, last year there was one homicide, and there were three in 2006.

 

In Prince George this year, the murder count is already well above the national average, both in per population and in gang related deaths.

 

There have been four homicides in Prince George so far this year,   and three were gang related.

 

In 1992 Prince George was known as the murder capital of North America. With 13 homicides that year, the only other city with that kind of rate per population was Washington, D.C.

 

The Canadian city with the highest murder rate is Winnipeg. It has 3.55 homicides per 100 thousand people, and Manitoba was the worst province with a rate of 5.22 per 100 thousand.  With 62 homicides last year, that is the highest number of murders in “Friendly Manitoba” in 47years!

 

As for B.C. there were 88 homicides last year, that’s 2.01 per 100 thousand population. That’s still higher than the national average, but it is the lowest rate this province has seen in 40 years.