Kelowna is “extremely safe,” even though the serious crime rate has increased by 20%, says the city’s top cop.
RCMP Supt. Kara Triance, who took up her position this week, seeks to allay public concerns that new statistics from Statistics Canada are suggesting Kelowna is becoming a dangerous place.
Kelowna now has the fourth highest crime severity rate among Canada’s 35 largest cities, down from sixth place two years ago.
“We understand that this ranking seems worrying, but I want to stress that Kelowna and the surrounding communities remain extremely safe,” Triance said in a statement released by the RCMP on Thursday evening. “It is nonviolent crime that seems to have influenced our ranking.”
These types of crimes, Triance said, are “casual crimes” that result in more police-made files.
Examples include automobile theft, shoplifting, theft under $ 5,000 (which is often theft from yards or open garages), calamity, and the disruption of the peace, Triance says.
Like its predecessors, Triance also found that Kelowna’s crime statistics can be influenced by the two million visitors expected to come to the city according to Kelowna Tourism, most of them during the summer months.
Though their numbers are not counted in the population, it is their crimes, which skew crime statistics, Triance says.
The Kelowna RCMP, Triance says, is “very proactive” in self-generated police files, Triance says. And she says one or two productive offenders can have a “dramatic effect” on local crime statistics.
Statistics Canada’s statistical statistics cover not only Kelowna but the surrounding communities of West Kelowna, Lake Country, Peachland, and nearby rural areas.
While highlighting aspects of the statistical information she believes are important to the public, she acknowledges that RCMP has regularly monitored such statistics and used them to develop new security programs.
These include: focusing on partnerships with health and social services to address “the complex issues related to housing, mental health and poverty”; having more officials in downtown and Rutland, especially on Friday and Saturday nights; Establishment of a General Investigative Support Team to assist frontline officers with more complex and serious investigations.
“We believe these changes will enable us to better serve our communities in the region and disrupt criminals in the region,” Triance says.
“We will review the statistics to see how the RCMP and our communities can actively reduce and prevent these casual crimes and, in the future, lower the crime severity rating in the region.”
Mayor Colin Basran also offered his reaction to the crime statistics, saying the city needs help from other levels of government to address issues such as homelessness, poverty and drug addiction.
“Community security cannot rest on the shoulders of the police alone,” Basran said in a city news release. “A multifaceted approach to prevention is needed to reduce crime and improve the community’s sense of security in our city.”
Basran also noted that the citizen poll found that 87% of respondents said they felt safe in Kelowna.
Together with a 20 percent increase in the crime severity index, the Kelowna crime rate rose 24 percent between 2018 and 2019 – three times the national average, according to Statistics Canada.
As a result, Kelowna’s overall crime rate of 10,747 crimes per 100,000 population is the second highest in Canada after Lethbridge.
Greater Kelowna also has the highest opioid-related drug offense rate in Canada, three times higher than Vancouver.
