jdeutsch@thenownews.com The crime rate across Canada is falling, and it's no exception in the Tri-Cities.

According to police-reported crime numbers released by Statistics Canada, Coquitlam had a rate of 5,659 crimes per 100,000 people in 2012, compared to 5,775 in 2011. The number of incidents of crime in the city in 2012 was 7,487, down from 7,535 in 2011.

Metro Vancouver had a crime rate of 6,958, while Kelowna topped the country with 8,875 crimes for every 100,000 people.

A closer look at the numbers shows a slight increase in violent crimes in Coquitlam, up 5.9 per cent to 760 incidents, compared to 717 in 2011. There was just one recorded homicide in the city in 2012, compared to two the previous year. The number of assaults also went up to 364 in 2012, from 317 in 2011.

The total number of property crimes reported also went up slightly in 2012 to 3,596 from 3,540 the previous year, or 1.5 per cent. It appears Coquitlam residents are also being more neighbourly, as the number of disturbing-the-peace-violations dropped by more than 250. The number of impaired driving incidents also took a tumble to 242 in 2012, from 395 the previous year.

The stats show less people are being busted for certain illegal drugs, as there were 315 incidents of pot possession in 2012 compared to 350 in 2011, and another 35 people busted for cocaine possession, down from 48 the previous year.

PoCo recorded a higher crime rate than its neighbour at 7,612 incidents per 100,000 people. That was also a 4.3-per-cent increase from the previous year, when 7,299 crimes were reported.

The number of criminal incidents was 4,287 last year.

In Port Moody, the crime rate in 2012 tumbled significantly to 4,795 incidents per 100,000 people, down 11.8 per cent from 2011. The number of crimes in 2012 was 1,515, compared to 1,697 the previous year.

© Tri-Cities Now