The number of serious assaults in December in Richmond tripled from a year earlier but overall crime is down in the city.
Richmond RCMP report there were 25 serious assaults in December, an increase of almost 80 per cent from November and three times as many as in December 2019.
Thirty-two per cent of these serious assaults were domestic, but police say they have not noticed any patterns or trends in the violence.
These statistics are part of the Richmond RCMP’s monthly report going to council’s community safety meeting next week.
Crime overall, however, was down in Richmond in 2020, including residential break-and-enters, robberies, shoplifting and theft from cars.
Property crime was down 14 per cent overall in 2020 compared to 2019 and drug-related offences were down 20 per cent.
The report notes that, of the four largest RCMP detachments (Richmond, Coquitlam, Burnaby and Surrey), Richmond had the lowest violent crime rate and the second lowest property crime rate in 2020.
