Crime rates in Kelowna are returning to pre-pandemic levels, according to the city’s top cop.
An update, which is headed to city council on Monday, explains that the statistics from April 1 to September 30, 2022 compare to the update provided earlier this year which stated property crime was on the rise in Kelowna.
Superintendent Kara Triance says this increase is consistent with both national and provincial trends.
Although crime rates across the city are moving back to levels comparable to 2019, Kelowna RCMP responded to 6.7% fewer calls for service overall from April to September when compared to the same time period in 2021.
However, from July to September, there was a 38% increase in calls for service to the downtown area.
Commercial break and enters were up 38% from April to September and 35% from July to September and are now consistent with pre-pandemic levels.
“In response to this increase, the Kelowna RCMP began a targeted enforcement of priority repeat offenders and established a task force to further refine options,” explains the report.
“Early analysis suggests these efforts … (are) having a significant and immediate impact.”
The targeted enforcement of repeat offenders began in August and by September the Kelowna RCMP were reporting a notable decline in crime.
Although these are preliminary results, the detachment will continue to employ this strategy and will be looking to update a repeat offender management program in line with the Lepard/Bulter Report, which was released earlier this year and made 28 recommendations to address repeat offending.
Continuing with crime trends, bike thefts increased by 85% and 41% in quarter two and quarter three, respectively.
In response to the increase in bike thefts, Kelowna RCMP relaunched its Bait Bike Program. When paired with targeted enforcement of repeat offenders, this led to a 23.5% decrease in bike thefts from August to September.
A major increase of 91.6% was reported with robberies, or theft with violence or intimidation, which is up by 33 cases from April to September of this year.
Supt. Triance writes in her report that this increasing trend of robberies is being observed across the province.
The report continues by explaining that the Kelowna detachment refined its reporting criteria to ensure robberies were categorized appropriately which may account for some of the increase.
Although there was an increase in shoplifting and fraud in both quarters when compared to last year, both crime types have decreased since August with shoplifting down 18%.
Domestic violence reports also declined by 19% from April to June and by 34% from July to September. Supt. Triance says these numbers compare to 2021 figures when reported domestic violence cases increased significantly “due to pandemic-driven factors.”
“Overall, the City of Kelowna is trending downwards in violent crimes against persons whereas both province and district-wide reporting are trending upwards in the same category,” writes Supt. Triance.
As crime rates continue to return to pre-pandemic levels, the police sector, much like any other sector in Canada, continues to struggle with recruiting, training and retaining officers.
Supt. Triance says these difficulties with staffing can lead to higher case volume, caseload and pressure on Kelowna RCMP officers.
However, the detachment has taken several steps to mitigate these impacts.
This included temporary redeployment of non-frontline officers to the frontline, receiving support from detachments across the Lower Mainland during the busy tourist season and recruiting 43 new members since January.
Several officers who came to Kelowna just to help out over the summer and on long weekends ended up requesting they be posted to the city’s detachment.
Supt. Triance expects the detachment’s vacancy rate to improve from a low of 71% in quarter one (April to June) to a more normal rate of 85% by February 2023.
Kelowna City Council will review this matter on Monday at 1:30 pm.
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