North Garrison Heights Neighborhood Association

CRIME. HOW DO WE COMPARE?

Jan 24, 2000

The 3rd Quarter 1999 crime statistics for the City of Vancouver recently became available to the neighborhood association.

For Part I Crimes (Arson, Assault, Auto Theft, Burglary, Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Theft above $250) the North Garrison Heights Neighborhood placed 25th out a total of 48 neighborhoods reported. Crime statistics are traditionally reported in the format of crimes per 1,000 population. For the entire city, the 3rd Quarter Part I Crime rate was 16.56 per 1,000 population. North Garrison Heights had a rate of 9.99 per 1,000 population. Translating this to an actual number, we experienced 23 Part I Crimes during the quarter. The highest number of crimes was committed in the Vancouver Mall Neighborhood (124) and the lowest was the South Cliff Neighborhood with 0.

During 1999, the Police Services were able to substantially improve their crime reporting process and are able to accurately record and report crime data. In the first quarter of 1999, it is estimated that Police Services was able to capture and report 85% of the crime data. By the third quarter, the reporting accuracy had increased to over 99%.The information available to neighborhoods and citizens is substantially more reliable now than it was just a year ago.

To give you a feel for where we stand in the crime statistics area, here are 1998 Part I Crime statistics for other Washington Cities reported as crimes per 1,000 population:

Tacoma ............104.4
Seattle ............. 98.3
Spokane ........... 94.2
Everett ............. 75.4
Bellevue ........... 43.6
Vancouver ........ 41.9

As this type of information becomes more available, we will continue to keep you up-to-date.