Complaints of rampant petty crime have plagued Enderby for months and the latest police statistics show the problem hasn’t gone away.
North Okanagan RCMP have released their quarterly crime statistics to Enderby city council this week and the numbers show a significant jump in total case files and certain thefts between April and June.
Data from the RCMP shows that between April and June of this year, there were 15 cases of thefts from vehicles reported in Enderby.
That’s up from three cases during the same time period last year.
Meanwhile, there were 24 reports of thefts under $5,000, compared to six during the same three months in 2018.
“We are shocked as city council as to the increase in the level of incidents in our community particularly theft,” city councillor Brad Case said.
The numbers have Case urging residents to look out for each other and report suspicious activity.
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However, Case points out the data isn’t necessarily all bad news, because more proactive policing and citizen reports can also drive up the number of police files.
Since the time period captured by the latest police data, the city has also hired private security to patrol.
Case said the city is hoping that the security presence will cut down on thefts and vandalism and provide another set of trained eyes to help report any problems.
North Okanagan RCMP declined an on-camera interview request about the statistics, but said in a statement that their members in Enderby continue to work diligently to prevent crimes.
The RCMP also pointed out that other types of police files had actually dropped in Enderby.
During the same three-month period from April to June, police responded to fewer traffic collisions and liquor offences in Enderby than they did the previous year.
The number of stolen vehicles reported was also down slightly with three stolen this year compared to four last year.