Police report shows Vancouver’s crime rate is declining

While it will take some time for Vancouver to repair a reputation besmirched by the summer of 2011’s Stanley Cup riot, Vancouver police statistics indicate crime is going down in the city.

Police aren’t commenting on the report in advance of Chief Constable Jim Chu’s presentation Wednesday to the Vancouver Police Board.

But the information available online at http://vancouver.ca/police/policeboard indicates property crime decreased by 4.3 per cent in 2011 from 2010. Violent crime only went down marginally, 0.2 per cent, from 6,713 reported incidents in 2010 to 6,701 in 2011.

While response times in the fourth quarter of 2011 were slower by 30 seconds than the same period in 2010, overall response times improved by 3.9 per cent – going from 10 minutes and 12 seconds in 2010 to 9:48 in 2011.

In terms of traffic-attended injuries and death, the VPD attended 7.4 per cent more calls in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to 2010 but the annual rate is 6.9 per cent lower last year compared to 2010.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the statistics indicated a decrease in crime over the past five years and that the VPD’s crime strategy is working.

Since 2007, there has been a 29 per cent drop in property crime, a 12 per cent decrease in violent crime and a 52-second improvement in response times.

“The VPD’s strategic plan is clearly paying off, and we are making significant progress toward achieving the goal of becoming the safest major city in Canada,” said Robertson in a release.

“Our work in reducing street homelessness by 82 per cent has also helped deliver drops in crime, particularly downtown,” he said.

The VPD has surpassed its goals of decreasing property crime by 20 per cent and violent crime by 10 per cent between 2008 and 2012.