Nanaimo RCMP detachment reports that crime is down, but the severity of crime keeps creeping upward.
The detachment’s second in command, Insp. Andrew Burton, delivered good and bad news at the City of Nanaimo’s public safety committee meeting April 10, presenting a report on Nanaimo’s latest crime statistics and policing priorities for the coming year.
Nanaimo’s crime figures overall have trended downward for five years, with calls for police service in 2023 tallying 45,321, down from 51,729 in 2019. So far, that trend is continuing in 2024 with 7,995 calls for service from January to April, down nine per cent from 8,778 for the same period last year.
But Burton cautioned calls for service figures don’t tell the whole story.
“The severity of crime is increasing, as indicated by the severity of crime index,” he said. “This can be attributed to an increase in assaults, robberies, weapons offences and homicides.”
From its five-year low in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nanaimo’s crime severity index has been steadily rising since. In 2023, aggravated assaults went to 12 incidents from eight in 2022. Sex offences tallied 262 incidents in 2023, up from 237 in 2022, which was the lowest count since 2019.
From 2019 to 2023, property crime has fallen 29 per cent, with break-and-enters down 46 per cent. Auto theft, break and enters, fraud and shoplifting all ticked upward in 2022, but resumed their downward trend in 2023. Burton cautioned there’s no guarantee that trend will continue through the remainder of 2024.
Also since 2020, apprehensions of people under the Mental Health Act and mental health-related police files have been rising. So have impaired driving files, from 322 in 2019 to 501 in 2023.
Trending downward are drug possession files, which dropped drastically in 2023, largely due to decriminalization of less that 2.5 grams of drugs.
Police will go after drug dealers, repeat offenders and gangs
The inspector also laid out the broad strokes of Nanaimo RCMP’s policing priorities for the coming year at this month’s public safety meeting. The federal government mandates that each detachment set out national, regional and community priorities, which locally includes the City of Nanaimo, the District of Lantzville and Snaw-Naw-As and Snuneymuxw First Nations.
Nanaimo detachment’s plan includes a focus on repeat violent offenders through the repeat violent offending intervention initiative, which was launched in 2023 and is led by B.C. Corrections. Nanaimo is one of 12 hubs in the province for the program.
Nanaimo RCMP will also target the drug trade through a program called the provincial tactical enforcement priority, investigating high-level drug dealers.
“These aren’t your street-level drug dealers,” Burton said. “They’re all connected, so if we can cut the head off the snake it should have a trickle-down effect.”
Diverting youths from gangs is another strategy in play to prevent future crime through intervention with young people at risk of entering gangs. Burton said the Nanaimo RCMP has an “excellent and robust” youth section and a strong relationship with the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district.
“What we’re seeing a lot of is gang recruiting, where some of these adult criminals [involved in] organized crime recognize that the law takes a different view of young people, so they’re actually employing – which is quite heinous – young people to do their dirty work,” Burton said.
He said gangs are recruiting youths in high schools and middle schools to sell vapes and if they prove good at that, they’re asked to move onto other gang activities. They’re often rewarded with expensive clothes or shoes, for example.
“We’re really seeing that it’s a great business model, so we’re doing our best to combat that,” Burton said.
Community and public safety is also being prioritized through specifically addressing mental health issues. The inspector said the number of calls police attend involving mental health issues is significant.
“We recognize that and that is a huge part of community and public safety,” he said.
Nanaimo RCMP has a full-time mental health liaison officer who works with a psychiatric nurse. The team responds proactively to reach out to people in crisis or will respond to calls from general duty officers who encounter people in crisis.
“This is something we’re seeing more and more and more of and these people are mentally ill, so we need to treat them as sick people as opposed to criminals,” Burton said.
Another priority for Nanaimo RCMP are efforts around inclusion and reconciliation, which involves staffing Indigenous police officers and building trust through enhanced communication. Maintaining members and support staff wellness and morale is another of the detachment’s priorities, along with recruitment of new members.
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