BC has largest drop in crime rates and severity in Canada
| News |
The new Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) report on 2009 incidents of police-reported crime show that B.C. has the largest decline in crime rates and crime severity of all the provinces and territories in Canada, but the Province acknowledges that continued, targeted policing is still needed in communities where combatting gangs and guns remains a priority, Solicitor General Mike de Jong, QC, announced today.
“In almost every corner of the province we’re seeing the number of crimes (down six per cent) and their severity (down nine per cent) decline, demonstrating that integrated policing strategies and additional dedicated investigative and prosecutorial resources is working to make communities safer,” said de Jong.
Provincial and local crime reduction strategies that focus on prolific and chronic offenders and crime hot spots are also paying off. Police agencies are increasingly relying on crime data and working with other partners to focus on their local crime problems and developing comprehensive solutions.
“Building on the Premier’s seven-point plan to tackle gang crime, the Province strengthened integrated policing and prosecution resources to build iron-clad cases resulting in more guilty pleas and more convictions. We’ve seen success already this year,” said de Jong. “The record-low homicide numbers in Vancouver are being reinforced with a greater number of gangsters behind bars. Of six homicides in the city so far this year charges have been laid in four of them, compared to last year’s 20 murders with charges laid in just four cases.”
Other important safety and security indicators from the CCJS report demonstrate that:
· Violent crime - including homicides - declined one per cent in B.C., the same as the national trend
· B.C. property crime rates dropped nine per cent, compared to national declines of five per cent
· Other Criminal Code traffic violations are down 10 per cent, while impaired is up by 18 per cent, bringing an overall rise to the rate of Criminal Code traffic violations of 11 per cent. This reflects a national increase and proactive targeting of these offences
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|