2013 annual report shows a significant drop in crime rate

February 26, 2014 · 0 Comments

The 2013 Annual Report from the Shelburne Police is out and the statistics reveal encouraging numbers.

Over the past few years the Shelburne Police Service has not only focused on solving crime and promoting public safety through investigations and enforcement, but has been progressively increasing its community involvement and programs with the ultimate goal of reducing the crime rates. This includes increases in officers conducting beat downtown, officers in parks, officers at schools, bike patrol, R.I.D.E. programs, school programs, and other public education programs. “Officers being visible, approachable and interactive in the community are a big part of this approach” says Constable Paul Neumann. The results of these efforts are clear based on the statistics revealed in this annual report. Since peaking in 1991, the crime rate in Canada has been on a slow downward slide; however the drop in crime rate in Shelburne last year was significant.

Here are some highlights of the report:

In 2013 Shelburne Police responded to 4493 calls for service. These calls include a large variety of incidents such as: 9-1-1 misdials, alarms, animal complaints, attempts or threat of suicide, assaults, bail/probation violations, break and enters, child custody disputes, domestic disputes, drug offences, family and neighbour disputes, fires, frauds, impaired driving, landlord tenant issues, liquor licence act, mental health, mischiefs, missing persons, motor vehicle collisions, by-law issues, noise complaints, lost property, sexual assaults, sudden deaths, thefts, threats, traffic complaints, trespass to property, trouble with youth, warrants, weapons and many more.

In total Shelburne Police laid 2,473 criminal, federal and provincial charges in 2013.

The big news is the significant decrease in reported crime from 2012 to 2013:

• Violent Crime – decrease of 27.7%

• Property Crime – decrease of 25.9%

• Other Criminal Offences: decrease of 38.5% (includes but not limited to bail violations, indecent acts, threatening, harassment, counterfeit money…)

• Illegal Drug Offences: – decrease of 4%

For the past several years the Statistics Canada report titled “Police Resources in Canada” has shown Shelburne as the number one police agency compared to 13 other municipal police agencies with a population greater than 5,000 and less than 14,999 for the clearance of crime, based on the Statistics Canada Crime Severity Index. Remaining well above the national average for clearance rates on crime is an important goal for our service. In 2013, Shelburne Police reported an overall criminal clearance rate of 76.5% compared to the national average of 43.4% (2012 national average from Statistics Canada – 2013 national average not available yet).

“These numbers don’t just happen without dedicated, hard working police officers and a supportive community”, states Chief Kent Moore. “The more our service is proactive with the community, the safer it will be”.