The number of break-ins to vehicles and businesses in Vancouver continues to drop at a steady rate when compared to what police data was showing in the year prior to the pandemic being declared in March 2020.
Statistics posted to the Vancouver Police Department’s website for the period covering January to June indicates there were 2,524 reports of “thefts from auto.” For the same six-month period in 2019, the number of reports equaled 7,786.
In June alone this year, 429 vehicle break-ins were reported citywide compared to 1,244 in June 2019. A large portion of the vehicle break-ins this year—150—were reported in the downtown central business district.
The decline in the crime is even more remarkable when comparing data for a full year: in 2024, total vehicle break-ins reached 5,741, which is believed to be an all-time low for Vancouver when compared to 16,488 recorded in 2019.
Similar but not as significant drops occurred with business break-ins, dropping from 2,446 in 2019 to 1,295 in 2024. A total of 631 were reported between January and June of this year.
Pandemic
Police have offered various theories for the drop in vehicle break-ins, with the pandemic being the prime factor. More people began working from home in 2020, resulting in fewer people commuting by car to their jobs.
Some businesses also shut their doors permanently.
Early in the pandemic, police speculated in a report that the availability of pandemic relief payments, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, could be linked to a decrease in “low-level property crime.”
The suggestion was that people on low or no incomes and addicted to illegal substances no longer had to resort to crime to pay for their untreated addiction; police for decades have told BIV that drug addiction combined with poverty is driving vehicle break-ins.
While the work-from-home trend continues, recent data contained in a City of Vancouver report related to how people get around the city still shows a heavy reliance on vehicles to makes trips.
In a city staff presentation to council in July, annual survey data showed 48 per cent of respondents used a motor vehicle in 2024. When the pandemic was declared, the data showed 56 per cent of respondents chose a vehicle over walking, cycling or taking transit for their trips in 2020.
The data didn’t indicate whether people were using their vehicles to commute to work, where they parked their vehicles or their destinations. The uptick in car use in 2020 is believed to be a result of people not wanting to be exposed to COVID-19 while taking transit.
'Bounce back'
With health restrictions now lifted, and more people returning to office work, police have predicted property crime will begin to increase, although at a gradual rate, according to studies done by various academics around the world.
Simon Demers, director of the VPD’s planning, research and audit section, told the Vancouver Police Board in October 2022 that research in the United States, England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and China points to the return in crime levels.
A study by data scientists at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom examined crime trends during and after lockdown in England and Wales. Their study was released in March 2021.
“We found that 12 out of 14 offence categories experienced significant declines upon the introduction of lockdown guidelines, followed by a resurgence as restrictions were relaxed,” said the study conducted by Samuel Langton, Anthony Dixon and Graham Farrell.
“That said, the severity of this ‘bounce back’ varied between crime types. Evidence suggests that residential crimes, in particular, may not return to normality for some time, if at all. Other common crimes, such as robbery and violence [including sexual offences] experienced a rapid return to normality.”
So far, as the VPD’s data shows, property crime continues to trend downwards.
Police have pointed to projects targeting chronic offenders and an increase in officers on the streets as having a positive effect on preventing an escalation in break-ins to businesses.
'Increase in VPD presence'
Jane Talbot, president and CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, has her own theories for the drop in property crime, which match those provided by police.
“A few factors may be contributing to the decline in reported thefts from auto,” Talbot said in an email.
“First, we’ve observed a noticeable increase in VPD presence in the downtown core—both in vehicles and on foot. That likely plays a meaningful role in deterrence.”
Second, she said, the association’s community safety team has reported that fewer vehicles are regularly parked in surface lots and parkades, which suggests a continued shift in commuting patterns post-pandemic.
“With fewer targets, the opportunity for this type of crime is naturally reduced,” Talbot said.
Storefront break-ins
At the same time, she pointed out that statistics don’t always tell the full story.
“We hear regularly from our members that property crime continues to be a pressing concern — particularly theft from vehicles and storefront break-ins,” Talbot said.
“One ongoing and growing challenge we’ve observed is underreporting, which stems partly from a lack of faith in the criminal justice system’s ability to hold repeat offenders accountable. Businesses are increasingly asking themselves, ‘What’s the point of reporting if nothing changes?’”
Added Talbot: “So while the numbers may reflect fewer reported crimes, we urge caution in interpreting this as systemic change. Downtown Van continues to advocate for a coordinated response to safety concerns—one that restores confidence, encourages reporting, and addresses the root causes of crime, including mental health and substance use.”
Jess Ketchum, co-founder of the Save Our Streets coalition, welcomed the news of a decrease in property crime but also urged caution when interpreting the data, with statistics not capturing victims who choose not to report a crime.
“I know of businesspeople that—depending on how serious it is—they don't bother reporting it any longer because they've never seen any benefits directly to them of doing that,” Ketchum said.
“They don't get their merchandise back, their insurance costs might go up. But I encourage people to report, report, report because these statistics have a bearing on budgets for policing and security.”
Abandoned non-emergency calls
Since the pandemic, police have raised concerns with the E-Comm 9-1-1 dispatch service, which handles the VPD’s non-emergency phone line, over people giving up while reporting a crime.
The number of abandoned calls to the line reached 91,193 in 2022.
As BIV reported in May, the VPD has seen a significant decrease in the number of abandoned calls after improvements were made by E-Comm.
Abandoned calls were down 59 per cent in 2024 (22,414) when compared to 2023 (55,223), for a total decrease of 32,809, according to VPD data and a presentation earlier this year by E-Comm representatives to the Vancouver Police Board.
The VPD’s analysis of 88,000 abandoned calls in 2021 suggested there would have been an additional 1,700 reports of break-ins to homes and businesses in 2020.
Added to those crime reports would have been 1,000 thefts, 600 assaults, 500 calls related to mischief and 200 for fraud.
Ketchum said he continues to hear from coalition members across the province who continue to be victims of crime and are witness to an increase in street disorder.
“We have to be careful that we don't take our foot off the gas,” he said.
He pointed to the $5-million Task Force Barrage project that police continue to operate in the Downtown Eastside and the positive effect it is having on reducing crime. Regular news briefings from the VPD show a steady increase in arrests and weapons seized.
“There are some pretty positive stats there that indicate that more policing has provided a real benefit,” said Ketchum, but acknowledged it is a police-led effort that doesn’t include a health and housing component, a responsibility that falls to senior governments.
X/@Howellings
