Crime rate jumps almost 10% in New Brunswick

Arash in break-ins and other non-violent property crimes in Moncton fuelled a significant jump in New Brunswick's crime rate in 2015, although the province remains much safer than it was a decade ago and more law-abiding than many other parts of the country.

According to a major new report by Statistics Canadaon criminal activity, all police forces and RCMP detachments in New Brunswick dealt with 39,552 Criminal Code violations in 2015.That's an increase of more than 3,400 from 2014.

However violent crimes remained largely static, increasing less than one per centto 8,939 incidents.About 40 per centof those went unsolved.

Despitethe overall increase in criminal acts in New Brunswick in 2015, the number has still come down substantially since peaking at more than 57,000 violations in 2004.

"Even though we do see increases, crime has generally been decreasing since 1991," said Warren Silver, an analyst with Statistics Canada. "It reached a 30-year low last year (2014) so these increases we are seeing are still lowerthanthey were a decade ago."

Moncton numbers downplayed

Most of the increase in criminal acts in 2015 in New Brunswick was centred in the Moncton area and involved property crimes. Codiac RCMP officers dealt with 897 break-ins, 337 more than the previous year.According to Silver, that increase was the largest of its kind in the country.

Also jumping significantly in Moncton were cases involving thefts under $5,000, which increased by 758 to 2,987 and fraud, which saw 119 more cases in 2015 with a total of 508.

RCMP New Brunswick spokesman Const. Derek Black said in some cases the jump in crime numbers sounds worse than it is since several of the break-ins involve a cluster of thefts at the same time.

"Typically we would get a call that several vehicles in one neighbourhood were broken into overnight.So we could potentially have 15 different victims. However,it could be highly likely it's one person who broke into all 15 vehicles," said Black.

Saint John sees high clearance rate

The numbers revealed police forces in the greater Saint John area arethe most successful in solving crimes in New Brunswick, clearing 50.3 per centof their cases.

That was the second-highest rate in Canada behind the municipal force in Peterborough, Ont.,and well above the national clearance rate of 39 per cent.

Police forces in the Saint John area include RCMP detachments in Grand Bay-Westfield and Hampton, as well as the Saint John and Kennebecasis Regional forces.

Saint John Police Chief John Bates said there are a number of factors that help officers in the city solve crimes, including assistance from the public.

"Getting the community to come forward and assist in solving crimes and providing that valuable information is a factor.We can't do it alone," said Bates.

The numbers also revealed an evolution in law enforcement.The number of prostitution charges in the province dropped to an all-time low of just onein 2015,following a Supreme Court ruling late in 2013 declaring most anti-prostitution laws in Canada unconstitutional.In 2013, before that ruling, 30 people had been charged.

Also for the first time in New Brunswick, police reported fiveincidents under the new "non-consensual distribution of an intimate image" law in 2015.One person was charged.

"These things change all the time," said Bates. "As law enforcement, all we have to do is be mindful of what the laws of the land are and that's what we'll enforce."