Crime rates on the Sunshine Coast were down in 2009, a trend that extends back several years, according to the Sunshine Coast RCMP's annual report.
The report released this week tracks the number of calls for service the RCMP received over last year and categorizes them by property crime, violent crime, drug crime and other criminal code violations.
Sunshine Coast RCMP received 9,290 calls for service last year, down from 9,506 in 2008 and just under 10,000 the year before.
Property crimes like theft and vandalism have shown a consistent decrease since 2007 with 710 total calls last year, while violent crime reports came in at 257 - lower than 2008's numbers, but slightly higher than 2007.
Sgt. Russ Howard, the Sunshine Coast's acting detachment commander, noted the downward trend for most crimes, saying there are many factors that play into crime rates.
"Our call volume is obviously dropping," he said. "Some things are up. There's probably various factors that influence that, be it unemployment or whatever."
From the policing side of things, Howard said the drop can probably be linked to more boots on the ground in areas that are prone to criminal activity, such as beaches and logging roads.
"It could be increased enforcement on our part, increased presence on the streets. We're trying to get more of a visual presence out there. That's part of our crime reduction strategy," he said. "If we do that, then the general populace starts to realize we are spending more time looking at these areas. We're trying to head off any problems in these areas, and that cuts down on some of our problems."
Howard said the RCMP have also stepped up monitoring of the Coast's most prolific offenders, which he said results in fewer chances for them to commit crime, more time for the offenders being held in custody or simply causing the offenders to leave the Coast.
He said plans are in place now for continued increased enforcement over 2010, and RCMP members will continue to be vigilant.
"We've got a good group of members here and they work hard and they have a sense of ownership to the Coast, so hopefully we carry on providing the best possible service we can to the public," he said.
Putting the report in a bigger context, Simon Fraser University's director of criminology Robert Gordon said the Coast's numbers are in keeping with falling crime rates across the province.
"We know that the crime rates are falling. They have been for several years. The rate of violent crime is falling at a less obvious rate, but property crimes have been dropping for quite a while," Gordon said, though he cautioned that actual crimes reported are not exactly the same as calls for service.
As for the "why" of falling crime rates, Gordon said there are number of factors at play that are consistent with the Sunshine Coast - the most important being the aging population.
"People aged 14 to 26 are the group that commit most of the crime in any given society and this holds pretty much internationally," Gordon said. "The pool of people who are traditionally active in the area of crime is shrinking relative to the population of the whole."
He said increasing public caution and better technology is also making some property crimes harder to commit.
Gordon said the crime prevention techniques, like increasing police presence in hot spots and targeting chronic offenders, are also associated with decreases in crime.
"The jury's out on just how effective it is, but I think there's a general approach to crime in a given community that it's probably pretty good and much better than having police officers wandering around willy-nilly," he said.
Gordon said the Sunshine Coast RCMP is one of 12 detachments in the province that he knows of that is actively working on those specific crime reduction measures.
