Vancouver records increase in crime with particularly high numbers in some areas

Photo: The Canadian Press

A man is detained by police in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Police say the latest statistics suggesting an increase in crime for the first half of the year in Vancouver are concerning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Police say the latest statistics suggesting an increase in crime for the first half of the year in Vancouver are concerning.

Vancouver police say violent crime increased by more than five per cent and was largely driven by a rise in serious assaults.

However, police say there was a significant decrease in break-ins to cars because of fewer vehicles being parked downtown as people work from home during the pandemic.

But they say the pandemic also exposed closed businesses to thieves, with a 47.9 per cent increase in break-ins to commercial and business premises.

Police say they recorded increases in crime in all parts of the city, but areas including Strathcona, downtown and Yaletown recorded particularly high numbers.

They say officers are paying special attention to Strathcona, the site of a growing homeless encampment, where calls for service about weapons went up by 50 per cent and break-ins went up by 68 per cent.