Amid heated debates about public safety in British Columbia, the latest statistics out of Surrey show that crime is actually down in the province’s second-biggest city for the first part of the year.
The Surrey RCMP released its 2023 First Quarter Crime Statistics Report Wednesday, showing both violent crime and property crime were down over the same period in 2022.
The numbers come in the wake of several high-profile crimes in the city, including a fatal stabbing and an alleged terrorist knife attack both on transit buses.
However, according to the report, violent crime was down by 14 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023, with decreases in districts across the city.
The report detailed decreases in attempted murders (50 per cent), robbery (11 per cent), sex offences (10 per cent) and assaults (16 per cent).
There were five homicides in the first quarter, up 67 per cent from the three homicides in the first quarter of 2022. Cases of forcible confinement/kidnapping/abduction were also up by 23 per cent, climbing from 13 cases in Q1 2022 to 16 cases in 2023.
Property crime was down 13 per cent citywide between Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, also with decreases in every policing district.
Break-ins were down by 24 per cent, stolen vehicles were down 26 per cent, vehicle break-ins were down 19 per cent, arsons were down 38 per cent and fraud was down 17 per cent.
Small thefts (under $5,000), however, were up by 11 per cent and large thefts (over $500) were up 32 per cent.
There was also a sizeable uptick (41 per cent) in identity theft.
The statistics come with the province slated to release its final decision on whether to allow the City of Surrey to reverse its transition from the RCMP to a new Surrey Police Service on Friday.