Personal and property crimes in Calgary appear to be dropping; however, fewer cases are being solved, according to the Calgary police force's latest statistics.

For the year ending December 2008, data show 8,261 offences against people — including homicide and assault — were reported to police, with about 65 per cent of them being "cleared." Calgary police consider a case cleared when they have finished their investigation, including when it results in charges being laid.

In 2004, 9,407 person crimes — as the offences are known — were reported, with about 70 per cent of them being cleared.

Property crimes, including break-ins and thefts, fell to 49,181 reported cases in 2008 — a five-year low — from 53,807 in 2004.

But at the same time, the number of cleared cases is also at a five-year low for both property and personal crimes.

Police said Thursday part of the reason is because investigations are more complicated and take more time and personnel.

"Some of these investigations can take months. There are some that take years," Supt. Trevor Daroux said.

"The crimes that we're seeing now are very complex, much more complex than what they used to be. Investigating and solving these crimes are more complex, requires more resources."

Police also believe fewer people are reporting crimes because they assume it's not worth the trouble or don't want to wait on the phone or go to police stations.

An increasing number of gang-related crimes is also diverting officers from other types of cases.

"Public safety issues, such as the gang issue that we've been seeing, that is a priority to us because we know that it impacts heavily on the public safety and so those types of events require more resources towards that, but all crime remains important to us," Daroux said.

Solving property crimes less of a priority: criminologist

Criminologist John Winterdyk, who teaches at Mount Royal College, said he believes there's a hierarchy to which cases get priority, especially when comparing property offences and more violent crimes.

"There's an interplay between gaining public support and prioritizing resources or allocation of resources. In a general context, the public has a fairly high tolerance of property crime," he said.

Rebecca Rowley installed two new locks on her front doors after a recent break-in at her apartment.

"They went in my closet and pulled everything out and tried a bunch of things on and left their own clothes and their own shoes and packed a really big suitcase of my clothes and off they went," she said.

After calling police, an officer came and took some fingerprints, but she hasn't heard back from anyone.

"I gave them as much the information as I could but I didn't really have high expectations," she admitted. "This is a big city and there [are] things going on, so my clothes are not that important."