Editor, the Times:

According to a report recently released by the Abbotsford Police Board, crime rate in Abbotsford is spiralling down.

The APD justify this report by relying on preliminary year-end statistics with a focus on murder, home invasion, stolen vehicles, thefts from vehicles, and breakins of homes and businesses.

Now it may very well be that reported crime stats shows a reduction in crime in the city of Abbotsford.

That, to a point, is great news. However, this statistical information does not reflect truth in crime reduction.

I say this because not all crimes are reported. Unreported crime is referred to as the Dark Figure of Crime (DFC) - meaning the difference between how much crime occurs and how much crime is reported to, or discovered by the police.

In other words DFC is the unreported crime (or crime that is not known to police).

It is because of the DFC that there is no truth in the report of crime reduction that is reported to the police. DFC is then, not reflected in the official crime statistics.

It is then, due to DFC, that we cannot make a claim that the crime rate in Abbotsford, or in any other Canadian town/city, is spiralling down.

Lee Hanlon Mission