Vancouver mayor’s party quietly corrects inaccurate violent crime statistics

Police tape is shown in this stock image taken in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC party published inaccurate statistics about a decrease in violent crime in the city when touting the impact of its “historic investments” in public safety.

A spokesperson for the party acknowledged the error in an email to CTV News Thursday, before a social media post was deleted and a news release was edited to correct the mistake.

“Total violent crime is down 18 per cent, robberies are down 44 per cent, and serious assaults are down 23 per cent,” the original statements from the party said.

Those numbers did not, in fact, represent city-wide totals but rather a snapshot of the rates of some crimes on the Downtown Eastside during the first six months of Task Force Barrage, the party spokesperson acknowledged, without explaining how the mistake was made or saying if an official correction would be released.

A spokesperson for Mayor Ken Sim said the mayor has no role in writing the party’s materials.

“It should be noted that all data received to date has been consistent in showing a positive impact on crime rates from the coordinated action through Task Force Barrage and council’s broader investments in policing and emergency services,” a statement to CTV News said.

Like his party, Sim has also been repeating a statistic about a 23-year-low in violent crime, based on data from the first quarter of 2025. Asked if that record-setting trend has continued, his spokesperson said the mayor’s office is “continuing to work closely with the VPD and will share new data as it becomes available through the department’s regular public reporting.”

The most recent official report to the Vancouver Police Board, which covers the first six months of 2025, notes a year-over-year decrease in overall crime of 0.8 per cent, a total of 165 cases.

For violent crime, the figure is 9.8 per cent, a total of 280 cases.

“This decrease is driven by record low quarterly assaults and robberies, which coincides with the Retail Crime Task Force and Task Force Barrage that targeted these crime types,” the report to the board said.

“Violent crime declined in Districts 1 and 2 but increased in Districts 3 and 4.”

Non-violent crime has dropped year over year by 1.8 per cent, according to the report, which says the trend represents “a sustained post-Covid decline.”