Automobile theft, property crime both on the rise in Summerland

Numbers alone don’t tell the whole story of Summerland’s first-quarter crime statistics, the community’s top RCMP officer said Monday.

Sgt. Dave Preston appeared before council with a report showing property crime had risen 38% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to same period of 2021.

The biggest increases were seen in auto theft, which rose from three to 10 cases, and general thefts, which spiked from six to 19.

Of the 10 auto thefts, three were attempted that failed. And of the seven attempts that succeeded, two were aided by owners leaving keys in their vehicles and two involved people known to the vehicles’ owners.

“All those vehicles were recovered… in surrounding detachments: Penticton and West Kelowna,” added Preston, who also noted a third of the vehicles targeted by thieves were F-350 pickup trucks.

As for the general theft cases, continued Preston, five involved booze and six were relatively minor, dealing with items like a licence plate, firewood, cell phone and mirror.

“So, relatively low in cost of loss, but nonetheless still a theft,” said Preston.

His presentation also revealed that mischief cases rose from 20 to 42 in the first quarter, including several incidents of Telus phone lines being cut in April, which temporarily severed the community’s access to 911 service.

“We do have a suspect that we are investigating at this point. No charges have been laid in that, though,” said Preston, who doesn’t believe the acts were simply attempts to steal the copper wire within the lines.

“It’s not just the copper. There are some mental health issues… with that suspect.”

On the flip side, Summerland RCMP recorded a 27% decline in violent crime in the first quarter, led by assault cases falling from 13 to six.

There were a total of 635 calls for service in the quarter — identical to the same period of 2021 — 64 of which concerned traffic incidents. The next most-common calls were wellness checks (39) and alarms (36).