Fewer vehicles in Port Coquitlam are being broken into, but more vehicles are being stolen.
According to a report to be presented to the city’s committee of council on Tuesday, Nov. 5, RCMP investigated 65 reports of thefts from vehicles in Port Coquitlam from July to September, a reduction of 38 per cent from the three-year average of 104 for the same time period.
But 39 vehicles were stolen outright, a 46 per cent increase over the three-year average of 27.
The report said while overall property crimes in the city — break and enters to businesses as well as residences, fraud and shoplifting — decreased two per cent, person crimes like assault and robbery increased seven per cent in the third quarter of 2024.
Calls for mental health related files were also down 15 per cent and the average time of 86 minutes officers spent waiting at the hospital while patients were being helped was 15 per cent shorter than the three-year average of 110 minutes.
On Port Coquitlam’s roads, RCMP handed out 64 per cent more violations for speed-related infractions while intersection infractions were up 65 per cent and seatbelt infractions increased 41 per cent. But incidents of impaired and distracted driving were both down compared to the three-year averages for the same three-month period.
In total, officers handed out 878 traffic violation tickets in Port Coquitlam during the third quarter of 2024, compared to the 644 they wrote from April to June.
The report said the boost may have been aided by specialized traffic enforcement efforts on buys roadways like the Mary Hill Bypass, Coast Meridian Road and Prairie Avenue.
As well, “hundreds more hours were spent promoting traffic safety through general traffic patrols identifying unsafe driving behaviours and encouraging future compliance through ticketing.”
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