It’s a statistic that city police chief Daryl Longworth says doesn’t tell the whole story about community safety.
The North Bay Police Service reports the city’s Crime Severity Index was up 7.04% in 2025, compared to the year before.
It measures both how much crime is reported to police and how serious it is, with more serious crimes given more weight.
Violent crime rose by 7.84% while non-violent crime was up 6.44%.
Officials say three attempted murders and one homicide were recorded in 2025, with increases seen in other violent crimes including sexual assaults (up 5%), robberies (up 29%) and weapons-related calls (up 16%).
“The Crime Severity Index is one measure of crime, but it does not tell the whole story about community safety,” says Chief Daryl Longworth. “Serious offences can have a large impact on the index. At the same time, having a full staffing complement has increased our ability to conduct proactive policing and investigations.”
Police say in 2025:
· Traffic enforcement increased by 97 per cent.
· Fraud investigations increased by 20 per cent.
· Shoplifting calls increased by 15 per cent.
“We want people to report crime,” says Longworth. “That may mean we see more incidents in our statistics, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It means we have a better understanding of what is happening in North Bay and where we need to focus our efforts.”
Over the long-term, city police say the Crime Severity Index has dropped by approximately 23 per cent since 2021, both overall and for violent and non-violent crime.
Longworth says their focus is on preventing crime, supporting victims, disrupting criminal activity, and keeping our community safe.
He says they will continue to push forward and use local data to guide where their resources are needed most.
