In the last months of 2021, Sunshine Coast property crime rose seven per cent over the same period in 2020.
From October to December 2021, the RCMP statistics report 266 property crime occurrences, up from 248 in 2020.
In good news, violent crime was down nearly five per cent – at 101 occurrences in 2021 compared to 106 the year previous.
RCMP Cpl. Philip Atoui presented the fourth quarter statistics to Town of Gibsons council members at an April 20 committee of the whole.
The statistics noted that well-being checks rose nearly 12 per cent, though mental health-related occurrences went down just under five per cent. Atoui credited the rise in wellness checks to community awareness and the RCMP encouraging the community to report anything that would be of concern from a mental health perspective. “It all really boils down to engagement and the support that we're seeing overall from community,” he said.
Vehicle theft rose 61 per cent with 50 occurrences between October and December 2021, up from 31 the year before.
Break and enters to residences rose 57 per cent – 11 occurrences compared to seven the year before.
Break and enters to businesses rose 23 per cent.
Atoui also said that the RCMP is reintroducing its public awareness program Speed Watch, which has volunteers using portable radar equipment and an electronic digital board to monitor speeds and pass the information along to police and ICBC.
Council members were grateful for the statistics, which Mayor Bill Beamish called “much better data than we've received in the recent past.” They did however, also ask for more granularity in the data, per-capita comparisons and for overall annual numbers.
The statistics also showed breakdowns of incidents by community for the three months, but no year over year comparisons.
