Crime in Canada vs US (crime rate, statistics, safe)

[indian1]

In broad layman's terms (not statistics) how does crime in a major canadian
city, eg vancouver, compare with a major US city eg seattle ?

[nickjbor]

It does not, crime is so much lower here. I dont know about specific crimes, but in terms of the feared violence-on-the-innocent type assualt-robbery-murder, there is not even a comparison. To compare a canadian city of 2million you'd need to find a US city of perhaps 500K.

[djf863000]

actually Winnipeg has a higher crime rate then many other big cities in Canada, but still can't compare to the US.

[nickjbor]

plus from what I know, winnipeg crime is things like car theft (IIRC, winnipeg is the car theft capital of north america, not just canada) and not murder or assault.

[Exedous]

Canada's safe as far as I can see (I'm an American). That still doesn't mean you won't get killed, there are probably a lot of psycho's. As far as the media is concered-- nothing significant.

[Robynator]

It depends on what crime we're talking about.

American cities have more gang related violence than Canadian cities.
Canadian cities have more drug related property crime than American cities.

But it also depends on what city we're talking about... and what region of what city.

As a tourist in Seattle, I feel equally safe in Seattle than I do in Vancouver. But Vancouver has massive drug addiction problems with drug addicts acting up on the street. Many drug addicts resort to desperate measures in order to insure their drug fix... so they'll break into cars and steal items to pawn for drug money. Or the occasional meth head will randomly attack a woman at a skytrain station to steal her purse. It's crazy and sad and a real problem in Vancouver. And it's a problem you don't find in Seattle.

But on the other end of the country, you have Detroit - plagued with poverty and crime, ... and on the other side of the bridge you have the bland, white, middle class suburbia of Windsor, Ontario. Two cities next door with different levels of crime.

So it really depends on what you're talking about. It's too easy to make broad claims about both countries. When it comes to crime, you have to really look at it at a local level if you're going to make comparisons.

[nickjbor]

I'd rather have someone take my things then attack me, in that regard canada is far safer

[djf863000]

I think a lot of the crimes in Canada are Native related. Not all of them but, a good amount. Now I can't tell you if this is the case in the States.

[jone10021]

I had no idea there is a lot of crime in Canada.
We have plenty of crime here in NY.

[nickjbor]

Originally Posted by djf863000

I think a lot of the crimes in Canada are Native related. Not all of them but, a good amount. Now I can't tell you if this is the case in the States.

I've never seen proof that any one race is a cause of more crime then any other race. That being said, I have seen proof that those who are poor are more likely to bash in a car window, or bash a person