28 YOU DO NOThave to spend a lot of time at a local coffee shop or scrolling through #OntAg Twitter to hear about a big concern in rural Ontario: the increase in rural crime. Rural residents regularly hear reports of stolen pickup trucks, farm equipment, recreational vehicles, and even livestock — in April and May 2023, the OPP reported 45,000 chicks were stolen from a farm near Exeter, Ontario. WHAT DO THE STATISTICS SAY? While crime is often considered to be more prevalent in urban centres, the statistics do notback this up. According to Statistics Canada, in 2021, police services servinga mostly rural population served 15 per cent of the population in the provinces but reported 24 per cent of violent crimes, 18 per cent of property crimes, 30 per cent of Criminal Code traffic offences and 23 per cent of other Criminal Code violations. Rural crime on the rise TIPS FOR PROTECTING YOUR FARM AND YOUR PROPERTY Ontario Grain Farmer And the gap has increased over the past 10 years; in 2011, rural police services reported 6,855 incidents per 1,000,000 population, compared to 5440 in urban areas — 26 per cent higher. By 2021, the rural crime rate was 43 per cent higher than the urban rate (7,033 incidents per 100,000 population versus 4,919). And while crime rates dropped overall during the pandemic, the drop was more significant Rural Living
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