RCMP Release 2009 Crime Stats

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

RCMP Superintendent Brenda Butterworth-Carr releases the city's 2009 crime stats

Prince George, B.C. -  Although the number of RCMP calls for service were down significantly, the crime rates for some of the more serious offences in Prince George increased in 2009.

And RCMP Superintendent Brenda Butterworth-Carr says, "To me, that means we're doing our job." 

Butterworth-Carr concedes, "Often the community can say crime rates are increasing, so how does that correlate to crime, in general, does that mean everything is on the rise?" 

But she says, "In this particular instance, I would say that it's not.  Essentially what that means is our relationship is building with the public, so we're gaining their confidence, so they're actually feeling comfortable enough to come and make complaints as it pertains to some of the more significant criminal code offences."  And, she says, police are doing a lot more charging.

In 2009, there were three murders in our city...the same number as the year before.  The number of sexual assaults reported in 2009 was up 68-percent over 2008, from 56 in '08 to 94 last year. Aggravated Assaults saw a 100-percent increase, up from 6 to 12.  Butterworth-Carr says this increase should not be worrisome to the general public because it links back to the fact that people are feeling comfortable to make these complaints.

Here is the full chart comparing 2009 crime stats to 2008:

Vehicle thefts actually dropped 15-percent, from 456 in 2008 to 389 last year.  It's a move in the right direction that Butterworth-Carr is attributing directly to the RCMP's crime reduction team.  She says the officers have been staying on top of repeat offenders and working with the detachment's crime analyst to target hot spots.

The crime analyst was a service enhancement approved by city council back in 2007.  Butterworth-Carr says the analyst's data is also invaluable in keeping the detachment focused on its strategic priority of clamping down on organized crime.  The analyst tracks drug busts, weapons offences and other related crime...and then compiles 'hot spots' and persons of interest for officers to target.  The superintendent says, "It's very much about intelligence-led policing, it's not a matter of just responding to whatever comes in -- we acquire the data, analyze it and respond to it accordingly." 

City council rejected the RCMP's enhancement request for this year for three new general duty officers.  Butterworth-Carr says the officers would have allowed the detachment to start taking a more proactive approach to reducing crime in the city, rather than just reacting to the calls coming in.

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