Crime data from 2013 released by Richmond RCMP shows a decrease in overall criminal reports and an increase in police volunteering compared to 2012.
Overall criminal offenses, excluding traffic criminal code offenses, went down seven per cent.
The most significant decreases occurred in thefts and thefts from motor vehicles, which could have a correlation to an increase in police volunteers handing out notices to vehicles that are vulnerable to theft, such as those that are left unlocked or with valuables in plain sight.
In 2013 there were 1836 reported thefts from vehicles while in 2012 there were 2259, a 19 per cent decrease. Meanwhile police volunteers working with ICBC issued 26,393 notices to vulnerable vehicles while in 2012 they issued 17,998.
Auxiliary constable volunteer hours increased from 6921 in 2012 to 8199 in 2013.
Vehicle thefts also went down in 2013 with just 233 compared to 319 the year before. Theft went down 14 per cent as well.
Violent crimes showed a mix of positive and negative outcomes. While robberies went down from 119 to 88, sexual offenses went up from 43 to 53.
Meanwhile, serious drug offense remained the same.
Regarding the rise in sexual offenses, only a fraction of them are considered serious and of those, the parties are known to one another, said Richmond RCMP's Cpl. Stephanie Ashton.
"We have not had any reported stranger sex assaults in recent years," she added.
Meanwhile Ashton said the RCMP's main public safety priority in 2014 will be to reduce pedestrian-related traffic accidents.
"We had a bad year last year. It's probably our biggest initiative as far as crime and safety prevention goes," said Ashton, who noted there were 108 pedestrian-related traffic accidents in 2013, including four fatalities.
She said one of the top initiatives is reaching out to the Chinese-Canadian community, particularly as it relates to busy intersections in the city centre.
"The big thing we're doing now is trying to find a catch phrase we can use with the Chinese community. We have written material but now we're trying to teach the cultural aspect of 'stop, look and wave' or how you make eye contact with a driver. That's a really Canadian thing to do," said Ashton.
Other initiatives will be to keep handing out jaywalking tickets. Ashton said hundreds were issued in 2013.
She said she hopes volunteers will continue to be proactive on the issue as 2013 saw an increase in distracted driver warnings and speed watch letters mailed to drivers.
