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Williams Lake named fourth “most dangerous” in Canada

Maclean’s Magazine rankings out today and Williams Lake is once again in the bottom five
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Williams Lake Const. Dewald Du Toit of the Forensic Identification Section gathers evidence at the scene of two suspicious deaths in Williams Lake this spring. Angie Mindus photo

The Macleans Most Dangerous Places ranking is out and Williams Lake is once again in the bottom five.

In this year’s rankings, Williams Lake comes out as the fourth most dangerous place, following North Battleford, Sask. ranked number 1, Thompson, Man. and Prince Albert Sask. Rounding out the bottom five is Red Deer, Alta.

According to Macleans, Williams Lake’s crime severity index rose over the past year, as did its violent crime severity index.

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While assault rates went down over the past year, it was listed as well above the Canadian average per a population of 100,000.

The data used for the ranking comes from 2016, and is drawn from information released every july by Statistics Canada

That year saw 0 homicides, according to the data, 144 cases of assault, 25 sexual assaults and 1 case of a firearm offence.

Thefts and property crime were down in the past year, although both were still recorded above Canadian averages.

Williams Lake saw 24 robberies, 79 breaking and entering incidences and 46 cases of fraud in 2016, according to Macleans.

While impaired driving rates went down in the lakecity, cases of cannabis, cocaine and other drug trafficking or productions went up.

In terms of rates per 100,000 Williams Lake was listed as third highest for rates of sexual assault and robbery, fifth for cocaine trafficking and eighth for assault rates.

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