Cst. John Jasmins visits a North Delta business.
Cst. John Jasmins visits a North Delta business.
Cst. John Jasmins visits a North Delta business.

Delta: The second quarter of 2018 – April, May and June – saw key crime and traffic statistics continue to head in the right direction.

Collisions are down slightly compared to the same time frame last year, to 288, compared to 295 in 2017. This continues the trend set in the first quarter of 2018. And in the same vein, officers continue to hand out more traffic tickets in 2018, up to 3,284 in the second quarter, compared to 2,132 from this time last year.

“Our officers focus remains on ticketing drivers for offences such as speeding and distracted driving at high collision locations while enforcing impaired driving laws throughout the city. We do this in an effort to influence driver behavior, and hopefully reduce the number of collisions and injuries from collisions.” says Staff Sergeant Ryan Hall, who oversees the Delta Police Traffic Unit and Patrol Support Team. Revenues from tickets go directly to the Province.

Commercial break and enters continue on a very favourable decline, with 25 in the second quarter, compared to 34 over this time frame last year. Residential break and enters are up just slightly with 54, as compared to 51 in Q2, 2017.

“We are engaged with business owners and are encouraging them to report crime and interact with us,” says S/Sgt. Hall. “In July we had one company report significant theft in their lots that affected deliveries. We were able to strategically deploy patrol resources, ultimately catching people in their back lot, preventing a theft and securing related charges. We also have crime prevention officers who look at changing the commercial environment to make it less susceptible to theft.”

Persons offences – which include crimes such as robbery or assault – rose by one compared to last year this time, with 104 in the second quarter of 2018. Thefts from auto declined to 207, versus 231 from March to June of 2017.

“Our management team really makes an effort to stay on top of any new trends in crime at a very local level, working with our analysts and staff sergeants, ensuring we have a good response plan in place,” says Deputy Chief Norm Lipinski. “For example, if there’s been a spike in thefts from auto in a certain area, we’ll make sure our officers are not only doing increased patrols, but we’ll get them to do their paperwork out there in a marked car, rather than filing a report back in the office.”

Delta is headed opposite to the trend line throughout Canada, as the Crime Severity Index for all of Canada increased for the third consecutive year in 2017. In statistics released in July 2018, Delta continued on a downward trend hitting its lowest point at 50.9, while the Canadian Crime Severity Index increased to 72. Delta also continues to enjoy a low crime rate in comparison to the region and the rest of BC.