Between January 1 and April 30th, 2019, 509 crimes against persons (including assaults, homicides and robberies) were reported to the Abbotsford Police Department.
During that same period, more than 2256 property-related crimes (break and enter, theft from vehicle, and theft of vehicle) were reported. Property crime may not directly put the public at physical risk, but it significantly impacts our community – from the financial cost and “hassle factor” experienced by the victim, to the enormous amount of AbbyPD resources used to investigate and combat this type of crime.
However, despite the high number of property-related crimes year-to-date, Abbotsford’s property crime rate is down 12.3 % from the same period in 2018. AbbyPD is working diligently to sustain this downward trend by focusing our efforts on the city’s most prolific
offenders.
The majority of Abbotsford’s property crime is committed by a relatively small group of offenders who have long police histories. These prolific offenders are often responsible for multiple, simultaneous criminal complaints.
The Abbotsford Police Department Intelligence Unit is responsible for identifying prolific offenders, and passing that information to the Patrol officers and the Crime Reduction Unit officers who investigate these crimes.
“We have identified offenders in our city who commit criminal acts on an almost daily basis,” said Chief Mike Serr. “Assistance from the community – in the form of taking steps to deter property crime and to report crime when it does occur – is a key part of our property crime reduction strategy.”
Many smaller property crimes are not reported, as many citizens believe that reporting is not helpful. The opposite is true – the Abbotsford Police encourages all victims of any crime to advise police by phone, online, or via text. When crime is reported, it is added to a crime mapping system. Area-specific increases in crime are reviewed, and steps are taken to allocate resources to address these crime “hot spots”. This is done in a variety of ways, including:
• alerting the public through social media messaging and traditional media outlets;
• tracking and management of prolific offenders through court order checks and probation meetings, following up on crime tips, and conducting residence checks; and
• developing and implementing specific projects focused on property crime reduction.