Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated that property crime was down 5.2 per cent overall. In fact, it increased 5.2 per cent. Global News regrets the error.
Vancouver police say the city has seen a drop in the most serious categories of violent crime, along with marked dips in property crime.
But while homicides, sex offences and bank robberies were all down in 2019, police said the overall violent crime rate climbed by 7.2 per cent, driven by a “significant” 11.2-per cent increase in assaults.
Shots fired calls were also up, from 19 in 2018 to 29 in 2019.
Police said assaults represented more than 78 per cent of all violent crime in the city last year.
The VPD reported that the 10 homicides recorded in the city in 2019 represented a five-year low, while the 23 bank robberies in the city last year marked a 10-year low.
While property crime was up 5.2 per cent overall, led a surge in vehicle break-ins, which were up almost 13 per cent last year.
The city’s full year-end 2019 crime statistics are available here.