June 19, 2025
RED FM News Desk
VANCOUVER, BC – New data from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) indicates a significant drop in the city’s violent crime rate since the start of the year, reaching its lowest point in more than 20 years.
A report presented to the Vancouver Police Board on Thursday shows that overall crime decreased by 0.9% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, falling from 10,012 to 9,921 reported incidents. More notably, violent crime saw an 11.2% decline, with cases dropping from 1,342 to 1,192. This marks the lowest number of violent crimes on record in Vancouver since the implementation of the PRIME system in 2002.
The VPD attributes this positive trend, in part, to initiatives like Task Force Barrage, a specialized operation launched in February that targets the Downtown Eastside.
Beyond violent offenses, the report also highlights a four percent reduction in property crime between January and March, with total cases decreasing from over 7,290 to 7,000.
However, the report also points to an increase in calls related to the Mental Health Act, which rose by seven percent in the first quarter of this year. The total number of such calls jumped from 981 in Q1 2024 to 1,050 in Q1 2025. According to the VPD, 474 individuals were apprehended 578 times under the Act between January and March, a 2.8% increase compared to the first quarter of 2024.
The findings of the report were discussed at the Police Board meeting on Thursday.
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