Photo: Paul Jerry · CC BY 2.0Brooks sees more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. A Safety Grade of C follows from crime the police covering Brooks reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #211 of 474 in Alberta. Each year brought 21.4 violent incidents and 42.1 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size). Violence accounts for an index of 120.8 and other offences for 81.1, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What stands out about safety in Brooks
Mischief: high for a town its size
Brooks records 15.9 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Brooks stands 33rd, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Less severe than in 2023
Brooks’s index went from 105.3 in 2023 to 83.6 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Near the Alberta middle
Within Alberta, the median town comes to 110 on the index, against 91.9 in Brooks. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Brooks’s grade
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #211 of 474 in Alberta and #1,821 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Brooks, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Brooks runs highest on mischief (15.9 per 1,000 against 3.7), break and enter (4 per 1,000 against 2.2) and sexual assault (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.8). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7.3 | 0.4 | 78% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 5.3 | 0.3 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 6 | 0.4 | 50% |
| Breaking and entering | 66.7 | 4 | 35% |
| Possession of stolen property | 22 | 1.3 | 50% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 30.7 | 1.8 | 21% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 11 | 0.7 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 196.3 | 11.6 | 22% |
| Mischief | 268 | 15.9 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 11 | 0.7 | 70% |
| Administration of justice violations | 135.3 | 8 | 84% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 24 | 1.4 | 55% |
| Drug violations | 15 | 0.9 | 51% |
| Impaired driving | 53.3 | 3.2 | 77% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
In Brooks, down 21% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 105.3, and 2025 the lightest at 83.6. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Brooks | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 83.6 | 60 |
| 2024 | 86.8 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 105.3 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Brooks, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Brooks places 33rd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Canmore Alberta | 17,341 | 50.1 | 41.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Strathmore Alberta | 16,416 | 66.8 | 78.9 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Midland Ontario | 19,305 | 81.8 | 97.3 | C |
| 31 | Sylvan Lake Alberta | 17,897 | 82.3 | 83.4 | C |
| 32 | Edmundston New Brunswick | 18,174 | 85 | 102.4 | C |
| 33 | Brooks Alberta | 17,537 | 91.9 | 120.8 | C |
| 34 | Tracadie New Brunswick | 16,453 | 97.1 | 118.2 | C− |
| 35 | Swift Current Saskatchewan | 18,154 | 108.2 | 100.8 | C− |
| 36 | Summerside Prince Edward Island | 19,006 | 118.7 | 108.2 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 38 | Leduc County Alberta | 16,400 | 162.1 | 88.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 204.1 | 204.7 | D |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Brooks in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 360 violent incidents a year reached Brooks’s police, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
And about 710 property crimes, plus 370 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Brooks
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks | 17,537 | 91.9 | 120.8 | C |
| Newell County | 7,846 | 40.4 | 25.8 | A− |
| Duchess | 1,045 | 40.4 | 25.8 | A− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Brooks. Closest is Newell County, 4.9 km away, at 40.4 to 91.9 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- What clearance means. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Brooks
Is Brooks safe?
Police-reported crime in Brooks scores 91.9 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 21.4 violent incidents and 42.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the median is 66.
What is the most common crime in Brooks?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 16.5 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (15.9) and theft under $5,000 (11.6).
Is crime going up in Brooks?
It went down 21% between 2023 and 2025, from 105.3 to 83.6.
How much of Brooks’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 41% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (33% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 57% of violent and 32% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Brooks and nowhere else.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).