CITIZENS of the North Shore can rest easy knowing their communities are still among the safest in the province.
Crime statistics recently released by Statistics Canada show the crime rates in both North Vancouver and West Vancouver remain below the provincial average, and are continuing to fall.
Crime rates in the District of North Vancouver - measured at 4,185 incidents per 100,000 people in 2012 - and in West Vancouver - where the crime rate was 4,110 per 100,000 - were at less than half the provincial average, which was 8,872 incidents per 100,000 people last year.
In the City of North Vancouver, crime was higher, with the rate measured at 7,545 per 100,000.
All North Shore communities saw a decrease in crime, according to the statistics, with the crime rate in the City of North Vancouver down more than 12 per cent from the previous year.
Crime was also down eight per cent in the District of North Vancouver and about one per cent in West Vancouver.
The trend in North Shore communities reflects falling crime rates across the country.
According to Statistics Canada, the policereported crime rate across Canada fell three per cent between 2011 and 2012.
Crime rates have been consistently dropping since a peak in 1991. In 2012, the crime rate was at its lowest level since 1972, according to statisticians.
The crime severity index, which measures the severity of crimes - weighing violent crimes more heavily, for instance - was also down three per cent in the last year.
Both West Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver were among the B.C. communities with the lowest crime severity indices - with the severity of crime there measured at about half that of the province on average, putting suburban North Shore communities in the company of other apparently law-abiding boroughs like Comox, Qualicum Beach and Saanich.
In the City of North Vancouver, the crime severity index was about three-quarters of the provincial average.
According to Statistics Canada, the overall decline in the crime rate was driven by decreases in some of the most common offences, including break and enters, mischief, motor vehicle thefts and possession of stolen property.
In West Vancouver, statistics showed crimes like assaults, sexual offences and impaired driving were down last year while property crimes were up slightly.
Both violent crime and property crime were down in the District of North Vancouver, along with impaired driving and drug offences, while fraud was up.
Property crime and impaired driving were also down in the city.
Graham Farrell, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said there are many competing explanations for the decline in crime - which has also been noted in the United States, United Kingdom and much of Europe.
Some people have pointed to demographics and an aging population as the reason behind falling crime rates. Others have pointed to changes in policing techniques. Farrell said that accounts for some of the change.
Farrell said one of the theories he favours is the increase in car security systems. In the past, car theft "was a volume crime and it has gone down dramatically," he said.
Farrell said there's also often a link between car theft and other crimes. "You need a car to commit many types of crime," he said.
Farrell said crime tends to concentrate in certain areas - like urban corridors - because they have population density and transportation links.
Farrell said a decline in crime hasn't resulted in a reduction in police resources for several reasons. Forensic work is more complicated than it used to be, and paperwork like search warrants is much more time-intensive, he said.
Farrell added many police calls aren't in response to crimes - but are for other social issues like mental illness.
