Crime, Increasing or Decreasing?

According to Statistics Canada, violent crime is on the decrease; but watching our local news networks, it seems that this is not true. The portrayal of violent crimes in the media shows a mass problem of gangs and homicides. In the first minutes of a show alone, there is a slew of gang shootings, assaults and fires in half of the buildings in town. So is violent crime actually on the decrease? If it is, what about other, less harmful crimes; are we becoming a safer Canada?
After watching our local news network, we might have to work harder to find the courage to leave our houses. Story after story about homicides, gangs and sexual assaults, especially in the larger cities, could be frightening, but according to the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, "From 1977 to 2006, the total rate of both violent and property crime declined from 5,039 to 4,539 incidents per 100,000 Canadians"and it "reached it lowest level in almost 30 years". In 1977 the rate of violent and property crimes was 5,038.52 per 100,000 people, it steadily increased through the years, finally peaking in 1991 at 7,219.52, ever since then the numbers have steadily decreased ending up at less than it started at. This isn't to say though that this is all over Canada, yes it is on the decrease, but these rates are still higher in western and northern Canada.
There are many factors that lead to this decrease. One would be age. The baby-boomers are getting on in years and there are now less youth than there were before. It is proven that it is usually younger males who do crime, so if there is less then them, than there is less crime. The economy would also be another factor. Right now we are recovering from the recession, but we aren't completely recovered. When the economy is good, there is more theft, because these items would create a larger profit, but now with the recession, items are not worth as much, making theft and B&E's less profitable. One major reason though, even though it is shown a little too much, is the news. If everyday gang shootings and homicides are shown, what do you think the police are working on? It is the fear of the people that makes the police crack down harder to stop the violence.
Just recently, in Nanaimo BC, it was reported that crime was considerably down, with a few exceptions. On the Global News website on December of 2010 it wrote that according to recent reports from the RCMP "overall, crime rates fell in October and November compared to the same time last year with a decrease of 10% and 13% respectively." Drug-trafficking offences dropped 36%, while weapons-related offences dropped an outstanding 33%. There are of course exceptions to this that included residential break-ins and motor-vehicle theft. The officers say they were not surprised on the rise of thefts seeing as how it was around the Christmas holidays and temptations were everywhere.