At a time when crime and public safety is a top concern among many community members, New Westminster is seeing an increase in persons offences and a decrease in property offences.
At its January meeting, the New Westminster police board received statistics from January to December 2024, as well comparisons from the previous two years. The statistics show New Westminster saw a five per cent increase in persons offences and an 11 per cent decrease in property offences in 2024.
“While crime statistics have their strengths and limitations, they serve as one tool to assess trends in our community and the effectiveness of our policing initiatives,” Chief Const. Paul Hyland said in a news release. “The reductions in key crime categories are encouraging and reflect the dedication of our members and staff, whose hard work throughout 2024 has contributed to these positive changes. However, we recognize that crime statistics don’t always align with public perceptions of safety, and those concerns remain important to us.”
Hyland encourages community members to continue reporting crimes, as it helps the New Westminster Police Department respond effectively and optimize how it deploys its resources.
The report showed there were 802 persons offences in 2024, a five per cent increase from the 767 incidents in 2023. This included:
- Homicide: none reported in 2024; one in 2023
- Attempted homicide: none reported in 2024; one in 2023
- Sexual assaults: 74 in 2024, up from 62 in 2023 (a 19 per cent increase)
- Assault – common: 502 in 2024, up from 433 in 2023 (a 16 per cent increase)
- Assault – aggravated: four in 2024, down from 10 in 2023 (a 60 per cent decrease)
- Assault – with weapon or causing bodily harm: 182 in 2024, down from 184 in 2023
- Robbery: 40 in 2024, down from 76 in 2023 (a 47 per cent decrease)
The NWPD’s 2024 statistics showed a decrease in the number of domestic violence and family violence incidents in New West in 2024, compared to the previous year.
- Domestic violence: 530 in 2024; 588 in 2023.
- Family violence: 251 in 2024; 286 in 2023.
While person crimes rose by five per cent in 2024, property crimes decreased by 11 per cent compared to 2023.
All totalled, the report showed the police department responded to 1,808 monitored property offences in 2024. That was down from 2,038 in 2023 and 2,032 in 2022.
Here’s a look at some of those numbers:
- Break and enter – business: 115 in 2024, down from 172 in 2023 (a 33 per cent decrease)
- Break and enter – residence: 62 in 2024, down from 80 in 2023 (a 23 per cent decrease)
- Break and enter – other: 46 in 2024, down from 47 in 2023
- Theft of vehicle: 141 in 2024, up from 123 in 2023 (a 15 per cent increase)
- Theft from vehicle: 397 in 2024, down from 561 in 2023 (a 29 per cent decrease)
- Theft – other, over $5,000: 19 in 2024, up from 14 in 2023 (a 36 per cent increase)
- Theft – other, $5,000 or under: 554 in 2024, up from 493 in 2023 (a 12 per cent increase)
- Mischief over $5,000: four in 2024, down from 15 in 2023 (a 73 per cent decrease)
- Mischief $5,000 or under: 470 in 2024, down from 533 in 2023 (a 12 per cent decrease)
On the traffic front, the New Westminster Police Department responded to 692 collision offences in 2024. That’s up five per cent from 656 in 2023 but down from 712 in 2022.
The report shows that collision offences included two fatalities in 2024, five in 2023, and three in 2022.
Going down
According to the NWPD statistics, alcohol- and drug-related vehicle incidents dropped in 2024, compared to the previous year. That included warnings and impaired charges.
Incidents involving weapons also decreased in 2024, going from 100 in 2023 to 76 in 2024. That represents a 24 per cent decrease from the previous year.
The monthly report to the New Westminster police board also provides statistics on a variety of other calls including bylaw, false alarms, missing persons, mental health related, disturbed person/attempted suicides, sudden deaths, and domestic disputes – no assault. The New Westminster Police Department reported decreases in all of these categories in 2024, compared to 2023.
- Missing persons: 259 in 2024, which is down from 266 in 2023 (a three per cent drop)
- Mental health related: 945 in 2024, which is down from 990 in 2023 (a five per cent decrease)
- Disturbed person/attempted suicide; 589 in 2024, which is down from 655 in 2023 (a 10 per cent decrease)
- Sudden death: 127 in 2024, which is down from 142 in 2023 (a 11 per cent decrease)
- Domestic dispute (no assault): 328 in 2024, which is down from 370 in 2023 (a11 per cent decrease)
The New Westminster Police Department said the statistics provide insights into public safety and policing efforts over the last year.
“These stats are not inclusive of all crime types but represent those actively monitored by NWPD staff for intelligence led policing initiatives,” said the news release. “Additionally, some of these numbers may change as police files are reviewed for quality assurance purposes and crime types are amended.”
The 2024 statistics are available online in the Jan. 21 police board agenda.
NWPD highlights
In its news release, the NWPD said some of the key highlights from the 2024 crime statistics include: No homicides or attempted homicides in 2024; a 52 per cent reduction in impaired operation of a motor vehicle investigations (100 in 2024 compared to 207 in 2023); and a continued trend over the past three years in the reduction of domestic violence reports (634 in 2022, 588 in 2023, and 530 in 2024) and in theft from vehicles (704 in 2022, 561 in 2023, and 397 in 2024).
The New Westminster Police Department also points out that the department saw a 30 per cent increase in the number of police reports made online by members of the public, going from 433 in 2023 to 567 in 2024.
How about the downtown?
In addition to citywide statistics, the police board receives specific statistics for incidents in the downtown neighbourhood. NWPD statistics show an increase in some thefts, but decreases in numerous categories:
- Assault – common: 152 in 2024, down from 156 in 2023 (a three per cent decrease)
- Assault with weapon or causing bodily harm: 74 in 2024, down from 78 in 2023 (a five per cent decrease)
- Assault – aggravated: three in 2024, down from seven in 2023 (a 57 per cent decrease)
- Robbery: 18 in 2024, down from 42 in 2023 (a 57 per cent decrease)
- Break and enter – business: 27 in 2024, down from 65 in 2023 (a 58 per cent decrease)
- Break and enter – residence: 10 in 2024, down from 15 in 2023 (a 33 per cent decrease)
- Theft from auto – over and under $5,000: 109 in 2024, down from 135 in 2023 (a 19 per cent decrease)
- Theft, other – over and under $5,000: 211 in 2024, up from 174 in 2023 (a 21 per cent increase)
- Mischief – over and under $5,000: 145 in 2024, down from 173 in 2023 (a 16 per cent decrease)
- Mental heath related: 242 in 2024, down from 291 in 2023 (a 17 per cent decrease)
