The number of violent crimes in Calgary is down, according to the latest 2008 figures from Statistics Canada.

Using a new Crime Severity Index - which assigns values to serious crimes based on the sentences handed down by the courts - officials say Calgary's figures were down eight per cent last year from 2007.

Our city does still have one of the highest murder rates in the country at a rate of 2.9 per 100 thousand people.

Criminologist Kelly Sundberg credits the decline to an aging population in Canada.

He says older people commit fewer crimes, so he isn't surprised by the drop.

Police are crediting the drop to their crime prevention strategies.

The Calgary Police Service says the high murder rate can be attributed to the escalation in the city's gang war last year.

The city recorded 33 homicides last year compared to 30 for the year before.

RCMP are crediting drops in crime in rural areas to community policing.

Alberta's Crime Severity Index value is currently sitting at 110.1 which is ranked seventh in the country.

The national rating is 90, a drop of five per cent from 2007.