Violent crime continues to rise in York Region, police said

Violent crime is rising at an alarming rate in York Region, police statistics show.

Violent crime is up 63 percent over the past five years, according to police-reported data presented to York Region’s policing board on May 22.

There were 8,837 crime incidents in 2019, 8,830 in 2020, 9,777 in 2021, 11,935 in 2022 and 14,410 in 2023, according to the most recent data.

“Although there are few cases of violent crime compared to property crime, the rate of increase is outpacing it,” said Steven Pinto, manager of the strategic services office.

Many forms of violent crime, including assault and sexual assault, are experiencing long-term increases, statistics show.

There were 6,928 attacks in 2023, compared to 5,635 in 2022; 1,233 sexual offenses in 2023 from 1,104 in 2022; 522 robberies in 2023 versus 455 in 2022 and 47 home invasions in 2023 versus 27 in 2022.

“Sexual violations include the increase we’re seeing in intimate partner violence, and robberies include increases in retail theft, auto theft and street-level robberies,” Pinto said.

Property crime remains the most prevalent crime in the region, accounting for 59% of all police-reported crime.

There were 32,472 calls for property crimes, 14,410 for violent crimes, 6,019 for other crimes, 886 for drug crimes, 761 for weapons, and 43 for federal crimes in 2023.

The property crime trend is up after a decline five years ago. According to the data, there were 25,423 criminal incidents in 2019, falling to 21,340 in 2020, rising to 22,504 in 2021, 26,402 in 2022 and 32,472 at last count in 2023.

The largest share of property crime is theft, with 17,844 incidents and approximately 2,411 burglaries.

Police have received more calls for service for property crime in York Region as the rate of incidents continues to rise each year.

Police note that York Region remains a safe community as the crime rate is consistently lower than national and provincial averages. Furthermore, by 2023, most police work involved non-criminal incidents.

Police say several guns are used in the crimes. There were 218 gun crimes in 2023, approximately 215 armed subjects encountered by officers, and 183 youth charges for assault with a weapon in 2023.

“In front-line terms, members are seizing more guns and seeing more guns being used during criminal incidents,” Pinto said. “The growing reality is that our members are dealing with more guns in the community, and more and more cases like this are affecting their mental health.”

Vehicle theft and car theft remain a major problem. There were 3,951 stolen vehicles and 1,827 recovered vehicles in 2023. There were 3,064 stolen vehicles and 1,311 recovered vehicles in 2022.

“In 2023, the auto cargo unit conducted a number of major projects that resulted in the arrest of 49 people and the recovery of 392 vehicles valued at over $31 million,” Pinto said.

For carjacking incidents, there were 17 involving firearms and 40 involving no weapons in 2023. There were 20 involving firearms and 36 involving no weapons in 2022.

Police say that with a rising rate of stolen vehicles, a more significant number of firearms are involved during carjacking incidents. Carjacking is the term used to describe a violent form of vehicle theft.

Intimate partner violence and domestic violence are on the rise. In 2023, there were 3,004 incidents of intimate partner violence and 3,858 incidents of criminal intimate partner violence.

In 2022, there were 3,285 incidents of intimate partner violence and 2,943 incidents of intimate partner violence.

Pinto notes that crime has become more complex because there are more violent crimes and crimes involving more people, networks and sophistication. He said police are dealing with more cases than ever before, impacting their clearance rate.

Board member Walter Perchal acknowledged the complexity of crime and said police are aware of emerging trends and are adapting.

“We are in the era of complex crime because we are no longer dealing with individual organizations. We’re dealing with organizations that have come together and entered into joint venture arrangements that facilitate all kinds of things from car theft to fentanyl use across the country,” Perchal said.

Perchal questioned whether the force had adequate support and resources. Chief Jim MacSween responded that they don’t have everything they need, but they tend to get to that point by working with the Ontario Criminal Intelligence Service, for example.

MacSween said police have plans in place to deal with cybercrime and the use of artificial intelligence.

“We will be heavily regulated because AI will have significant uses for policing,” MacSween said. “We will be heavily regulated. Criminals don’t want to. How do we stay ahead of this? This will be a significant challenge for every police agency in the country, but those discussions will take place on a regular basis.”