ABOUT THE PROJECT | Crime Anlaysis

Introduction

Crime and public safety are essential priorities of the government. This is an important topic that affects our daily lives and also the broader society. In previous years, Vancouver has seen a rise in crime rates. Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University, states that the degree of crimes are less severe however, crime rates have increased by 2% in recent years from 2017 to 2018 (Penner 2019). Research Co. recently conducted a survey in which they learned that 20% (one in five) of the citizens in British Columbia are victims of crime (Canseco 2019). With the knowledge of increased crime and a greater probability of becoming a victim of crime, citizens of Vancouver are living in fear.

Last year in 2018, statistics showed in increase in crimes. Reported cases of homicide decreased but sexual assaults and frauds are still increasing. Our study is based on property crimes but it should not be neglected as thousands of property crimes occur each year. We have provided a table below with the definitions and maximum punishment of each type of property crime.

Our crime analysis of aims to understand the trends and density of crime in Vancouver. It identifies the crime patterns and trends by analyzing seasonal patterns and the influence of dwelling values. We hope that this analysis will be useful in understanding Vancouver's crime patterns, increasing awareness, and perhaps to predict future crime analysis.

Crime rates and the types of crime may vary depending on the time of the year. Using data from the Vancouver Police Department Geodash Stats, we can sort crimes depending on the month, local regions, and the type of crime. We will be using the space time pattern mining tool in ArcGIS to create a crime hotspot map in order to examine the density of crime during the summer and winter. A time series plot will also be created to understand the trends in different crimes throughout the year. We are also interested in the spatial distribution of crime in relation to the price of houses. Dwelling costs will be split into quartiles to map out the kinds of crimes most prevalent in each neighbourhood. Our analysis also examines the effects on crime rates within the different ranges of housing prices.

Local Areas in Vancouver

Crime Types & Definitions

BNE Commercial

BNE Residential

Mischief

Other Theft

Theft from Vehicle

Theft of Bicycle

Theft of Vehicle

Vehicle Collision or Pedestrian Struck (with Injury)

(Commercial Break and Enter) Breaking and entering into a commercial property with intent to commit an offence.

(Residential Break and Enter) Breaking and entering into a dwelling/house/apartment/garage with intent to commit an offence.

A person commits mischief that willfully causes malicious destruction, damage, or defacement of property.

Theft of property that includes personal items (purse, wallet, cellphone, laptop, bicycle, etc.)

Theft of property from a vehicle.

Theft of a bicycle.

Theft of a vehicle, motorcycle, boat or any motor vehicle.

Collision that includes all categories of vehicle involved accidents with injuries. This includes pedestrian and cyclist involved incidents with injuries.

s.348 (1)(e) guilty if the offence is committed in relation to a place other than a dwelling-house, of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

s.348 (1)(d) guilty if the offence is committed in relation to a dwelling-house, of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life

s.430 - ranges depending on type of damage; could be indictable or summary offence - liable to imprisonment for life/term not exceeding 2 years/10 years

s.334 - Except where otherwise provided by law, every one who commits theft

(a) if the property stolen is a testamentary instrument or the value of what is stolen is more than $5,000, is guilty of

(i) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years, or
(ii) an offence punishable on summary conviction; or
(b) if the value of what is stolen is not more than $5,000, is guilty

(i) of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or
(ii) of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

s.331 (1) Everyone who commits theft is, if the property stolen is a motor vehicle, guilty of an offence and liable

(a) on proceedings by way of indictment, to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years, and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of six months in the case of a third or subsequent offence under this subsection; or
(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day.

s.249
(3) Every one who commits an offence under subsection (1) and thereby causes bodily harm to any other person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.
Dangerous operation causing death
(4) Every one who commits an offence under subsection (1) and thereby causes the death of any other person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

news articles:

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-s-crime-rate-rose-slightly-in-the-last-year

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/2019/08/15/crime-public-safety-fear-survey-bc-vancouver/

Canada's Criminal Code:

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/fulltext.html

for more information:

https://vancouver.ca/police/index.html

https://geodash.vpd.ca/docs/VPD-GeoDASH-FAQs.pdf