Timmins has cracked the top 10 in multiple areas for Maclean's most dangerous places rankings.
Every year, the magazine creates an interactive tool to show people how their community ranks against others across Canada.
The rankings are based on StatsCan's 2018 crime severity index, the last full year that information is available. More details on how they rank the most dangerous places is available here.
For all crime, Timmins comes in at 21st on the list of most dangerous places in Canada.
When the rankings are broken down, Timmins appears in the top 10 in three areas.
It is fourth for sexual assault, sixth for homicide, and 10th for violent crime.
The rankings are based on information released earlier this year, which showed an increase in the number of criminal offenses in Timmins in 2018.
Timmins Police corporate communications co-ordinator Marc Depatie said the agency is "well acquainted with the 2018 crime index statistical rankings.
"These act as a useful tool in determining how to deploy existing law enforcement resources," he wrote in an email.
The overall CSI ranking for Timmins in 2018 is 138.30, which is up from 94.69 in 2017.
The city's violent crime rating increased in 2018 to 204.83 from 142.78 in 2017. The non-violent crime severity index also jumped to 114.04 from 77.16 the year prior.
Nationally, the crime severity index increased two per cent in 2018 over 2017.
Depatie said the data must be viewed through an objective lens and one that takes into account the unusual.
"The calendar year of 2018 saw a number of criminal events that are not likely to reoccur; the one incident, in particular, resulted in three persons of the same family being slain.
"That event is coupled with a homicide in 2018 predicated on some elements of mitigation. These events have had an obvious effect on the empirical findings listed in the crime index statistical review. These events along with other crimes of a violent nature put the calendar year of 2018 and its rankings as a marked departure from the ordinary or expected," he said.
Timmins Police has rolled out two new programs this year.
"Based in part on the 2018 crime index findings and being cognizant of the impact on public safety, the Timmins Police Service has developed strategies to address these issues in 2019," said Depatie.
"These strategies have allowed for the Timmins Police Service to enter into partnerships to treat and address, not only crime as the by-product, but more importantly the root causes of crime be it poverty, homelessness, mental health support, or substance abuse."
The Street Outreach and Community Safety Team works to locate people likely to be involved in criminal activity and address it proactively.
The Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team is a partnership with the police service and Timmins and District Hospital.
It has Timmins Police officers and mental health staff from the hospital paired up and responding to calls.
"While it would be premature to provide a meaningful assessment of the success linked to these new strategic teams, early results are showing promise in terms of significant results related directly to the efficient use of police resources and positive outcomes to individual incidents," he said.
