Coquitlam crime rate hovers at historic low but shoplifting shoots up

Drivers are still speeding and shoplifters are still exercising the five-finger discount but, overall, Coquitlam was pretty safe in 2025.

There were 44 crimes per 1,000 people in Coquitlam last year, a “historic low level,” according to Coquitlam RCMP.

In terms of persons crimes, which range from assault and extortion to kidnapping and homicide, Coquitlam saw a marked decline in 2025.

There were 1,195 persons crimes in the city in 2025, down from 1,423 in 2024 and the lowest level in five years.

Assaults comprise 44 percent of total persons crimes. Crimes such as homicides, kidnappings, and weapons offences account for fewer than one percent of persons crimes.

Property crimes were up 19 percent in 2025, largely due to a spike in shoplifting. Police chronicled 5,091 property crimes in Coquitlam – an increase of more than 500 from 2024 and 900 from 2023.

Shoplifting was the most frequent property crime type in 2025, ticking up 65 percent compared to the three-year average.

Police received 1,908 calls for mental health issues. Those types of calls have increased over the past five years, rising by more than 50 percent since 2020.

Coquitlam RCMP officers handed out 7,900 traffic tickets in 2025 – a 22 percent bump from the previous year. However, Mayor Richard Stewart was particularly curious about the uptick in e-scooters on city streets.

“We now have a bunch of unlicensed drivers in traffic on motorcycles that they call scooters,” he said, noting some scooters zip through traffic and bike lanes.

E-scooters present a challenge, acknowledged Coquitlam RCMP Insp. Todd Balaban.

“That’s where it’s very grey for us. We do have some things to deal with it, but not as much as we’d like,” he told Coquitlam council.

Balaban also noted reports of some riders unlocking their e-bikes and hitting the street at speeds up to 70-kilometres per hour.

“That’s motorcycle territory, so when a person wipes out on that bike, the likelihood of having significant injuries drastically increases,” he said.

Discussing scams, Stewart asked about the increasing sophistication of Artificial Intelligence.

“It’s becoming very complicated very fast,” Balaban said.

In many cases, those scams originate in countries where there’s no legal assistance treaty in place, in which case it’s difficult to get much information.

Balaban talked about the importance of public education, as well as reminding people that if an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is.

The detachment may be using AI to ensure information is released in English and French by September in accordance with federal guidelines.

“We are looking at using AI to help us draft that,” Balaban said, adding that a human would fact check the translation.

While there are many Coquitlam residents who don’t speak English, there aren’t many who speak French but not English, Stewart said.

“I get frustrated when we do things just for show,” he said. “It doesn’t help policing to send out the alert an hour late but in both official languages.”

In total Coquitlam RCMP received 23,290 calls for service in 2025. Calls for service have been fairly consistent over the past four years, ranging from 23,009 in 2022 to a high of 23,777 in 2023.

The detachment currently has eight vacancies.

Including integrated teams, Coquitlam’s 2025 RCMP budget was $43.4 million.