Crime overall in Richmond increased by one per cent in June – compared to a year ago – and by three per cent in July, compared to statistics from the previous July.
The Conservative Party of Canada put out Canada-wide and B.C. statistics titled “Trudeau’s Crime Wave” in anticipation of the Liberal Party of Canada’s national caucus meeting in Nanaimo.
They point out total violent crime is up in B.C. by 51 per cent over the past nine years, since Justin Trudeau become prime minister, and auto theft is up 46 per cent across Canada over the same time period.
Violent crime in Richmond, however, was up by two per cent in July 2024 compared to a year ago and was within the five-year average.
As for car thefts, statistics from the Richmond RCMP show there were 14 cars stolen in Richmond in July, and 24 in June. While the June numbers are above the five-year average, July car thefts fall below the average of 23.
In fact, in B.C., auto theft dropped from 308 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 176 per 100,000 people in 2023.
The total number of crimes in Richmond in June were slightly higher than in July – there were 1,089 criminal code offences recorded by the Richmond RCMP in June, whereas there were 999 in July.
Property crime was down four per cent in Richmond in the first seven months of the year.
Business break-ins were also down by 23 per cent when comparing the first seven months of 2023 2023 to the first seven months in 2024.
The two areas in which Richmond crime has increased significantly are shoplifting and fraud.
There was 39 per cent more shoplifting in the first seven months of 2024 in Richmond compared to the first seven months of 2023.
And fraud was up 20 per cent in this same time period.
These Richmond crime statistics are published monthly by the City of Richmond and are dealt with at the community safety meeting.
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