Police-reported crime rates down in 2009: Statistics Canada

Police-reported crime in Canada continued to decline in 2009, according to a new study released by Statistics Canada.”Nearly 2.2 million crimes were reported to police in 2009, about 43,000 fewer than in 2008,” Statistics Canada says. “Overall, three property crimes accounted for the majority of this drop: 17,000 fewer motor vehicle thefts, 10,000 fewer mischief offences and 5,000 fewer break-ins.”Property crime violations made up just slightly more than half of the Criminal Code violations (excluding traffic violations) in 2009, according to a supplementary table of data.Statistics Canada reported about 1.4-million property crime violations in 2009, with about one-third (550,183) of them being non-motor vehicle thefts of under $5,000. A further 205,710 property violations were for breaking and entering, while 108,172 were for theft of a motor vehicle.A little more than half – 88,630 – of the 146,553 Criminal Code traffic violations in 2009 were for impaired driving, according to the study.