By Richard Dooley
The Daily News

CRIME – Halifax is the violent crime capital of Canada.

According to a Statistics Canada survey released yesterday, Halifax has the highest number of victims of sexual assaults, robberies and physical assaults per 1,000 population in Canada.

The news has startled city politicians. And it spurred the region’s two top cops to call for changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act and tougher standards for releasing criminals on court-ordered conditions.

“We have heard the calls from many sectors across the country about the need to revisit the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and give the police and courts the authority to deal with these young repeat offenders and keep them off the street,” said Halifax Regional Police Chief Frank Beazley.

Beazley and Halifax RCMP Supt. Gord Barnett held a news conference yesterday to respond to the Statistics Canada report.

Despite the numbers, both said Halifax is safe.

“The average person in this city is safe,” said Beazley. But some people are safer than others. “If you lead a normal family lifestyle, if you’re not out in the bar scene every night and not out in risky neighbourhoods … Older people like me are safe.”

Crime figures in Halifax are exacerbated by a couple of factors. Police say the city has a serious crack-cocaine problem, which fuels crime sprees. They say the reluctance of the courts to jail young offenders is contributing to the problem.

Beazley said the Youth Criminal Justice Act works for the vast majority of young offenders, but has to be changed to protect society from the small minority of repeat young offenders. “It has a bias against detaining and holding people I feel should be detained and held,” he said,

Beazley said he’s heard stories of criminals released on conditions by the court committing dozens more crimes before being recaptured.

“It becomes like fishing: you catch again and you release; you catch and release,” Beazley said.

Barnett said it’s futile to release offenders into the community unless there are resources available to keep them out of trouble with the law.

According to stats kept by the police, about 65 per cent of people committing crimes in metro are under 24 years of age.

Mayor Peter Kelly said he was disappointed by the statistics in the survey Criminal Victimization in Canada.

“We have to really step back and see what’s going on,” said Kelly.

He’s requested individual meetings with Justice Minister Michael Baker and federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to discuss the issue.

The co-author of the report, Maire Gannon, said HRM’s dramatic growth since the last survey may have contributed to the rise in the number of victims of violent crime.

“Population growth and the movement of people tends to be linked to higher rates of crime and victimization,” she said.

n yes, i AM proud of being frum Halifax cuz of this, i love that kinda shit. except wen it happens 2 my spiccaz ofcoarse, my cuzzin got beat down not too long ago n now he haz brain damage n duzznt remember alot of shit, so that pisses me off. but if i dont know ya, then fuck ya hahaha, werd

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R.I.P. EAZY-E