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Mission crime stats on the decline

Year-to-date statistics show decrease in most categories
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Mission’s crime statistics appear to be on the decline compared to the same time last year.

RCMP officer in charge Insp. Annette Fellner presented the information to council on Monday. She broke down the statistics into specific categories, beginning with auto crime.

Overall, compared to the same time last year, auto crime is down 22 per cent in Mission.

However, when you compare the stats for this quarter (a three-month period) against the same quarter in 2016, auto theft is up 35 per cent, the equivalent of 12 more calls for service.

Fellner explained the increase likely came because of two chop shops operating in Mission. Those illegal operations have now been shut down by police.

“I’m expecting to see a decrease now that we were able to dismantle those and disrupt that activity,” said Fellner, adding that the matter is now before the courts.

Business break-and-enters as of the end of September 2017 are down 54 per cent compared to the end of September in 2016.

Other break-and-enters – such as sheds – is down 33 per cent compared to last year while residential break-ins are down 47 per cent.

One area where incidents have increased are mental health calls. The first nine months of 2017 has seen an increase of five per cent compared to the same time in 2016.

“It’s not always bad that we’re seeing this,” Fellner said. “Sometimes it’s the good work that members are doing that generates the increase. If we identify somebody in the community that we need to maybe pay more attention to, or target, and we are able to get them the support or help they need, that’s going to increase the calls for service.”

Other year-to-date stats include:

  • theft from vehicles – down 41 per cent.
  • violent crime (domestic violence only) down four per cent.
  • personal violent crimes – down 28 per cent.
  • property crime – down 17 per cent.

Fellner credited the prolific offender suppression team, which is in its second year of operation. The first year of the team saw a drop of 19 per cent in property crime and it is down again this year.

“They are doing a lot of excellent work focusing on and targeting the people who are maybe causing the most havoc in the community.”

Overdoses:

After Fellner’s presentation, Mission Mayor Randy Hawes asked if there was any statistical information on overdoses in Mission.

“We are already quite a bit higher than what we were last year,” said Fellner.

The only statistics she had at the time were the number of overdose events by year. However, she pointed out that the stats don’t say what the drug was that caused the overdose and the numbers could include and poisoning incidents.

In 2015, there were 95 overdose incidents in Mission. That number increased to 130 in 2016 and, as of the end of August of 2017, there have been 143 incidents in Mission.



Kevin Mills

About the Author: Kevin Mills

I have been a member of the media for the past 34 years and became editor of the Mission Record in February of 2015.
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