The Vancouver Police Department has released some data on reported crimes, and some categories, like assault and other violent crimes, saw an increase last year compared to 2022.
While many crimes like breaking and entering, motor vehicle theft and robbery saw decreases last year, the number of crimes like assault, sexual offences, fraud, culpable homicide and possession of stolen property went up.
Crimes involving an offensive weapon also increased last year.
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Overall, Vancouver saw a small increase in violent crimes.
In 2022, Vancouver saw a total of 6,140 violent crimes, which increased by 1.9% to 6,256 in 2023.
Vancouver saw 13 culpable homicides in 2022 and 15 in 2023. Meanwhile, sexual offences rose by 9.6% from 645 in 2022 to 707 in 2023.
There were 4,789 reported assaults in 2022 and 4,910 in 2023, an increase of 2.5%.
The most significant change or increase was the possession of stolen property. That increased by 29.6% from 324 in 2022 to 420 last year.
The city also saw a 17.8% increase in reports of offensive weapons last year from 622 to 733. There were 5,952 mischief reports — a rise of 18.1% from 2022 (5,041).
Other reported criminal code violations saw an 11.6% increase from 4,914 to 5,483.
Overall, compared to 2022, 2023 saw an increase in overall crimes by 8.4% from 42,692 to 46,259.
The largest overall decrease last year compared to 2022 was reported thefts of motor vehicles. In 2022, there were 958, compared to 782 last year.
Something not explicitly factored into the data is hate crimes.
Vancouver Police investigated 265 hate crime reports across all communities in 2023, a 31 per cent increase from the previous year. Increased reporting from the 2SLGBTQIA+, South Asian, and Jewish communities – fueled largely by geo-political tensions – were all major factors. pic.twitter.com/FE6Zx87hIB
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) January 18, 2024
As we reported last week, the Vancouver Police Department said that hate crimes rose last year, particularly when looking at reports of antisemitism.
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