DNA advancements can help police catch the bad guys

Thieves beware — there’s more chance now of police getting your DNA from a residential break-in.

West Kelowna city council heard this week that RCMP are increasingly likely to obtain DNA samples of people who have broken into homes.

“If we do have a crime scene, and they’ve left blood behind in the residence, we can take a sample of that and send it into a lab,” RCMP acting Supt. Mona Kauffeld told council on Tuesday.

“Just like a lot of things, the technologies and that start to come down in price, and the DNA part is also more attainable for a wide variety of crimes now,” Kauffeld said.

“Our labs are able to handle a lot more DNA than they used to,” Kauffeld said.

She made her comments in response to a question from Coun. Rick de Jong, who said he’d heard from many people concerned about a surge in residential break-ins in West Kelowna, from 53 in 2016 to 123 last year.

“People are feeling vulnerable, they’re feeling violated,” De Jong said. “Their homes have been broken into.” All types of property offences also rose between 2017 and 2017, from 1,342 to 1,513, and reports of stolen vehicles also climbed, from 68 to 115.

Kauffeld said many of the crimes were the result of proliÀc offenders, some of whom have been recently arrested and charged. She also suggested trends in West Kelowna crime were not too dissimilar from other towns and cities.

“Many of the trends our community faces are also trends that are seen to the north and south of us,” Kauffeld said.

In the past year across West Kelowna, business breakins declined, as did violent offences and assaults with a weapon.

In coming weeks, city ofÀcials will meet with Kauffeld and other RCMP representatives to set policing priorities for this year and 2019.