Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainDutch Settlement is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Police cleared 31% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Violence and property crime split as 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Weighing it all, Dutch Settlement earns C+ for safety (#17 of 88 in Nova Scotia), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2, violent and non-violent offences here reach 94.3 and 62.8.
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. Data for crime severity and crime rate covers the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area.
What’s behind Dutch Settlement’s grade
How sure: Less sure, since one city-wide figure stands behind it, and Dutch Settlement can differ a long way from its city’s average.
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: #17 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,398 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Which crimes make up Halifax Metropolitan Area’s figures
These are Halifax Metropolitan Area’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Halifax Metropolitan Area runs highest on theft under $5,000 (24 per 1,000 against 11.5), assault (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.9) and mischief (5.1 per 1,000 against 3.8). Break and enter and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 9.7 | 0.02 | 65% |
| Sexual violations against children | 124.7 | 0.2 | 34% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 232.7 | 0.5 | 94% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 44.7 | 0.09 | 51% |
| Robbery | 289.7 | 0.6 | 48% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 59 | 0.1 | 92% |
| Other violent violations | 151.3 | 0.3 | 48% |
| Breaking and entering | 920.7 | 1.8 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 123 | 0.2 | 70% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 462.3 | 0.9 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 200.3 | 0.4 | 17% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 12,134 | 24 | 12% |
| Mischief | 2,574 | 5.1 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 299.3 | 0.6 | 44% |
| Administration of justice violations | 2,638.3 | 5.2 | 81% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 437.3 | 0.9 | 43% |
| Drug violations | 335.7 | 0.7 | 37% |
| Impaired driving | 773.7 | 1.5 | 88% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 36 | 0.07 | 24% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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 50,000 people or more.
From 2023 to 2025, Dutch Settlement’s index held steady
Crime Severity Index
At 73.5, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 68.7. For the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Dutch Settlement | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 68.7 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 73.5 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 71.9 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Dutch Settlement, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Dutch Settlement
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Settlement | 6,234 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Fall River | 9,214 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Beaver Bank | 9,157 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Enfield | 26,960 | 55.1 | 63.4 | B |
| Lower Sackville | 20,171 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Middle Sackville | 14,898 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
4 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- City-wide figures. The figures for Dutch Settlement are city-wide: neighbourhood counts aren’t published as open data here.
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- The clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Dutch Settlement
Is Dutch Settlement safe?
Its police recorded 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Dutch Settlement a Crime Severity Index of 71.4. In the middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Dutch Settlement?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (24 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 8, and assault, at 6.7, follow.
Is crime going up in Dutch Settlement?
Not much: the index went from 71.9 in 2023 to 68.7 in 2025.
How much of Dutch Settlement’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 49% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 31% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police service that covers the whole city.
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).