A report to the Vancouver police board chaired by Mayor Gregor Robertson shows an increase in violent crimes this year.

The report prepared by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) for the board’s meeting Thursday (October 26) also indicates slower officer response times for priority or emergency calls.

The document states that violent crimes increased by 2.1 percent from January to September 2017 compared to the same period last year.

For the past nine months of the year, there were 3,773 incidents of violent crimes as opposed to 3,695 for the same period in 2016.

The report also cites trends in serious crimes.

Culpable homicides increased by 50 percent from January to September 2017 compared to the same period last year.

For the past nine months of the year, there were 15 incidents of culpable homicide as opposed to 10 for the same period in 2016.

Sexual offences increased by 0.6 percent from January to September 2017 compared to the same period last year.

For the past nine months of the year, there were 330 incidents of sexual offences as opposed to 328 for the same period in 2016.

Bank robberies increased by 7.7 percent from January to September 2017 compared to the same period last year.

For the past nine months of the year, there were 42 bank robberies as opposed to 39 for the same period in 2016.

Incidents of shots fired increased by 55.6 percent from January to September 2017 compared to the same period last year.

For the past nine months of the year, there were 28 incidents of shots fired as opposed to 18 for the same period in 2016.

The same VPD report also notes that police response times to priority or emergency calls increased by 0.9 percent from January to September 2017 compared to the same period last year.

The average response time for the past nine months of the year was nine minutes and 48 seconds, which was five seconds slower than the average response of nine minutes and 43 seconds during the same period in 2016.

Property crime was down by 6.6 percent from January to September 2017 compared to the same period last year.

Mental Health Act apprehensions by police dropped 2.7 percent.

Nine people died due to traffic incidents from January to September 2017. There were 13 traffic fatalities for the same period last year.