Violent crime down, property crime up at the end of 2017

Penticton and Summerland RCMP detachments to be at full strength by March

The RCMP’s regional quarterly report shows violent crime down in Penticton at the end of 2017, while property crime rose slightly.

The report will be presented to Penticton city council at today’s committee of the whole meeting.

The report covers crime stats from October through December of 2017 and shows some increases in crime in regional communities.

Violent crime in Princeton is up 29 per cent compared to 2016, up 26 per cent in Osoyoos, 14 per cent in Oliver and 23 per cent in Summerland.

The report notes significant increases in smaller communities may be due to relatively low numbers of criminal instances which can skew the data.

The single biggest property crime in the area was theft from vehicles, a majority of which were unlocked with valuables visible, the report says.

The region saw a six per cent reduction of violent crime, with an 18 per cent reduction in Penticton.

The region saw 34,073 calls for service throughout 2017.

The region has seen an overall increase in property crime, as well as break and enters “usually to out buildings and construction containers,” the report states, citing a rash of offences perpetuated by known offenders in November and December.

RCMP plan to expand their comparativestatistics program to cover the entire region.

“We need you all to be a part of this program by being our eyes and ears so we can put policing resouces in the right place at the right time,” Insp. Ted De Jager, officer in charge of the Penticton RCMP, said in the report.

The RCMP detachments in Penticton and Summerland will be at full strength by March 2018, the report says, and Penticton’s targeted enforcement unit and general investigation section have expanded their mandate to cover the entire region.

“This concept will expand as we seek to modernize and regionalize our overall response in the South Okanagan,” De Jager said.

The report also states a mental health liaison officer will be joining the team in 2018.

Heading into 2018, the RCMP is putting a focus on social disorder and property crime.

“Property crime continues to hit our communities throughout the region showing an eight per cent increase over 2016,” De Jager said. “While this is not as high as expected in some quarters, due to targeting prolific offenders and support of social chronic offenders, it is still in the wrong direction.”

De Jager says rural communities were hit hardest and “experienced the displacement of our more prolific criminals due to enforcement efforts in larger centres.”

Ryan Graham, Downtown Penticton Association board president, is scheduled to present a report at the committee of the whole from downtown business owners putting forward concerns about policing and events and issues in the downtown core.