Crime numbers down in Norfolk, patrol hours up

Kim Huffman, Norfolk County Ward 7 Councillor.

Luke Edwards

Grant Haven Media

By most accounts, crime numbers appear to be dropping in Norfolk.

According to statistics from the Norfolk County OPP detachment, both violent crime and property crime has been dropping in 2025. The numbers were presented at the July 16 OPP Detachment Board meeting.

“All of those statistics are great numbers,” said Coun. Kim Huffman, chair of the detachment board.

The May-June period in 2025 saw 115 incidents of violent crime in the county, a 24.3 per cent drop from the same period in 2024, but still up slightly over May-June 2023, when there were 103 cases reported.

On the property crime front, the 169 incidents reported in May-June was a nearly 31.6 per cent decrease from the same time period in 2024 when there were 247 reports. That period in 2023 saw 265 incidents reported.

Year-to-date numbers for both categories also show decreases from last year, with violent crime down 26.6 per cent through June 2025 compared to the first half of 2024, and property crime down 20.4 per cent.

Crimes classified as “other” also saw slight decreases, down 9.8 per cent over May-June 2024 and down four per cent year-to-date.

As she presented the numbers, Staff Sgt. Catherine Braceland also pointed out the detachment is making progress with increasing public patrols.

“We’ve seen a steady increase with this, with our members going out into our communities,” she said.

Total patrol hours this year is over 3,000 hours as of the end of June, compared to 1,688 hours last year, Braceland said. Officers have also logged more motorcycle, marine and bicycle patrol hours.

Board members Michael Cruse said he’s noticed the increase anecdotally, in both Delhi and Simcoe.

“I’ve seen that a lot more than in the past,” he said, welcoming the increase in patrols. 

The report noted a 97 per cent drop in unfounded calls year-to-date, a number Braceland attributed to improved reporting by officers.

However, Huffman did bring up a concern she’s heard from citizens in Delhi. According to the residents there was a rash of property crime, but when victims called the non-emergency police line to report it, staff essentially told them not to bother.

“It was just simply ‘go through your insurance, thank you very much’ and that’s the end of the call,” she said.

“How do we get accurate numbers of property crime if information is not being taken?”

Braceland said she’d look into it and discuss specifics with Huffman, to report back at the next meeting in September.