Abbotsford-Mission has highest per capita homicide rate in Canada
Abbotsford-Mission has highest per capita homicide rate in Canada
BY KIM BOLAN , VANCOUVER SUNJULY 21, 2009
METRO VANCOUVER — The murder rate across Canada rose in 2008 with Abbotsford-Mission having the highest per capita homicide rate in the country.
Statistics Canada said in a report released Tuesday that while the overall crime rate is down, there are hot pockets of increased violent crime in Canada – and Abbotsford is one of them.
The Abbotsford-Mission area is one of three municipal regions in Canada that saw increases in 2008 of over 15% in their “Violent Crime Severity Index,” the report said.
The other two areas were Gatineau and Windsor.
But Abbotsford’s murder rate of 4.7 per 100,000 people put it ahead of Winnipeg at 4.1, Regina at 3.8, Edmonton and Kelowna at 3.4 and Vancouver at 2.4.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, along with municipal forces in Vancouver, Delta and West Vancouver, investigate Lower Mainland murders.
IHIT already reported at the end of 2008 that it was a record year for murders in the region. And The Vancouver Sun reported earlier this month that the first six months of 2009 were even worse, with Abbotsford seeing another jump.
The Statistics Canada report is released annually based on data provided by police forces.
Across the country, the number of homicide victims rose to 611 in 2008, up 17 from 2007, for an increase of two percent.
But Statistics Canada also noted that the murder rate “has been relatively stable over the past decade.”
Toronto had the most homicides with 103, but because of its large population, the per capita rate was 1.9 murders per 100,000, making it just slightly above the national average of 1.8.
Montréal (1.3) and Hamilton (0.9) each reported their lowest homicide rates since 1981, when data first became available at the CMA level.
Const. Ian MacDonald, of the Abbotsford Police, said the StatsCan report is not an accurate portrayal of Lower Mainland crime because it does not break Metro Vancouver into separate municipalities.
But Abbotsford is lumped in with Mission, which raised its 2008 crime stats in some areas, he said.
And he said that already the Abbotsford data is out of date because the department has seen huge reductions in property crime in 2009 after new pro-active initiatives brought in by Chief Bob Rich, who joined the force last year.
Break and enters are already down 50 per cent this year. Auto theft is down 30 per cent and the overall property crime rate is lower by 25 percent in 2009, MacDonald said.
“We have made huge inroads in reducing those rates in 2009,” MacDonald said.
And MacDonald said Rich has been very forthcoming about the gang problem in the Fraser Valley city, holding a public meeting to strategize on solutions.
He said residents have worked with police to reduce the property crime rate through various programs implemented by police.
“The violent crime is always going to be a tough nut to crack,” MacDonald said.
“You don’t get a lot of people involved in drug and gang-related crime asking `what program can we participate in’,” MacDonald said.
“It is a huge ball we have to deal with.”
MacDonald said the StatsCan reports in the area of drug crime can be very misleading.
If a police force is actively combatting drug crime, there will be more arrests and therefore a higher statistic, he said.
“You could stick your head in the sand and say we haven’t found any grow-ops in our community because you are not out looking for them,” MacDonald said. “Pro-active policing can actually be to your detriment.”
Overall, Stats Can said police-reported crime had dropped for the fifth year in a row.
There were about 77,000 fewer reported crimes in 2008, including 28,000 fewer thefts of $5,000 and under, 22,000 fewer break-ins and 20,000 fewer motor vehicle thefts.
About 1 in 5 crimes reported to police is violent. There were 3,500 fewer reported violent incidents in 2008, including 2,000 fewer robberies.
Homicides, which make up less than 1% of violent crime, were one of the few violent crimes to increase in 2008.
The police-reported crime rate for youth aged 12 to 17 fell by 5% in 2008, the fourth decline in the past five years. The youth violent crime rate, which declined 3%, has been relatively stable since 2000.
There was a 10% drop in the rate of attempted murders in 2008, serious assaults dropped for the first time in almost a decade. There were nearly 58,000 aggravated assaults and assaults with a weapon reported by police, a 2% drop in the rate from 2007.
The robbery rate in Canada has been gradually decreasing over the past decade, with a further 7% decline in 2008. About 15% of robberies involved a firearm. Robberies committed with a firearm remained stable in 2008 after reaching a 30-year low in 2007.
The rate of break-ins dropped 10% in 2008, continuing the steady decline seen since 1991. Police reported over 200,000 break-ins, of which 6 in 10 were residential.
But Abbotsford–Mission and Regina reported the highest break-in rates.
Police reported about 125,000 stolen vehicles in 2008, down from 145,000 in 2007. As a result, the rate of motor vehicle thefts dropped 15%, continuing the downward trend observed since the mid-1990s.
Despite a 44% drop, Winnipeg still reported the highest rate of vehicle thefts, followed by Abbotsford–Mission, Kelowna and Brantford.
The Vancouver Sun
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Abbotsford+Mission+highest+capita+homicide+rate+Canada/1812183/story.html
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