Do SkyTrain stations attract crime?

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – For years, there has been speculation that SkyTrain stations attract crime, but a new report may offer some insight into whether or not that is actually the case.

The report — prepared by Woodrow Analytics for Transit Police — focused on the new Evergreen Line, in particular the construction of the Inlet Centre and Port Moody Central stations. It found nearly a quarter of all violent crime in Port Moody over the last decade was within 500-metres of the future stations.

Since SkyTrain was built in the 1980s and development started concentrating along its corridors many have theorized it attracts criminal behaviour, but the Transit Police report suggests the Port Moody stations are located in already densely populated areas where there are pre-existing problems with violence.

A previous study analyzed crime rates along the Canada Line after it was built and found some types of crimes were slightly more concentrated around stations, though overall rates in the city did not go up.

 

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