It's a list no city wants to top.
Maclean's magazine released the list on Thursday ranking the country's most dangerous cities and while Prince George earned the number-1 ranking, New Westminster placed 15th.
Other British Columbia cities also factored in the ranking, with Victoria placing second, Kelowna seventh, Surrey 10th, Nanaimo 12th, Chilliwack 14th, Kamloops 16th, Vancouver 18th, Langley Township 20th, Maple Ridge 24th and Burnaby 26th.
The Maclean's ranking uses a crime severity index and ranks cities in several categories, including a crime severity percentage as compared to the Canadian average, a violent crime ranking and a non-violent crime ranking, to come up with an overall ranking.
For example, Prince George has a 113.7 per cent crime severity index as compared to the Canadian average and ranks first in both violent and non-violent crimes even though its percentage has decreased 17.4 per cent since 2005 and 11.1 per cent since 2000.
New West's crime severity index percentage is 43.4 per cent and ranks ninth in violent crime and 17th in non-violent crime. New West's percentage change is down 40.2 per cent from 2000.
According to the Maclean's survey, the magazine obtained annual crime data from Statistics Canada for municipal police services serving the country's 100 largest populations. Using 2010 rates per 100,000 people for six crimes - homicide, sexual assault, aggravated assault, vehicle theft, robbery and break-and-enters - Maclean's calculated the percentage difference from the national rate.
www.twitter.com/AlfieLau
