Statistics released by the Vancouver Police Department have revealed that crime continued to fall across the city in 2024.
While the VPD's year-end report showed reductions in incidents in nearly all categories, it did not include the severity of the crimes that did take place.
According to the report, there were 5,860 reported violent crimes in 2024, down from 6,288 the year before. There were 11 culpable homicides, eight attempted murders, 667 sexual offences, 4,535 assaults, and 639 robberies. In 2023, those numbers were 15, 10, 712, 4,937, and 614, respectively.
Property crime was also down, going from 33,830 reported incidents in 2023 to 30,703 in 2024. Over one third of those cases, 13,108, were theft, an increase over the previous year, where 12,551 incidents took place. Break and enter, mischief, and fraud also made up a large proportion of reported crimes, and all saw year-over-year reductions.
There were 849 offensive weapons crimes in 2024, an increase of 109 compared to 2023. "Other criminal code" offences also rose from 5,436 to 5,661.
The VPD has divided the city into four districts. D1 is downtown, D2 covers the areas of Strathcona, Grandview Woodlands, and Hastings-Sunrise, D3 includes Mt. Pleasant, Kensington, Renfrew-Collingwood, Sunset, Victoria-Fraserview, and Killarney, and D4 covers everything to the west of that. While violent crime was highest in D2, D1 saw the most incidents reported overall.
On its website, the VPD notes that, "some crimes, such as sexual assault, may not be reported for months or even years after they happened." Additionally, it has been reported that some people may not report crimes at all, feeling as though doing so will not lead to any repercussions for the suspect.
Among those sounding the alarm is the Save Our Streets coalition. In a letter to Premier David Eby, the group noted that according to a survey conducted by Research Co. on their behalf, 88% said crimes were "going unreported due to lost confidence in the justice system."
