Crime back to pre-pandemic levels in Kelowna, RCMP say

Robbers and thieves have lumbered back into action in Kelowna as pandemic restrictions have started to ease.

In a report that went to council Monday, the Kelowna RCMP reported that while there were 6.7 per cent fewer calls for service in the city overall in the period of April 1 to Sept. 30 compared with the same time a year earlier, there were some areas where a sharp rise in activity brought crime statistics back to pre-pandemic levels.

Kelowna RCMP Supt. Kara Triance told council there was a 38 per cent year-over-year increase in business break-and-enters during the second quarter of 2022 and a 35 per cent increase in the third quarter. These numbers are consistent with 2019, or pre-pandemic, levels.

“In response, the Kelowna RCMP began targeted enforcement of priority repeat offenders and established a Task Force to further refine options,” the RCMP report reads.

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“Early analysis suggests these efforts, enabled by the renewed ability to resource proactive enforcement positions is having a significant and immediate impact.”

Similarly, compared to 2021, bike theft increased 85 per cent and 41 per cent in the second and third quarters of the year, respectively.

“It is important to highlight that the number of bike thefts aligns directly with pre-pandemic, or 2019, rates,” reads the report. “Notwithstanding, the Kelowna RCMP has re-launched its Bait Bike Program with demonstrated success.”

Bait bikes were deployed 13 times in that period and that led to three arrests.

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“This initiative, along with targeted enforcement of repeat offenders, led to a 23.5 per cent decrease in bike thefts from August to September,” reads the report.

The number of robberies within the community has skyrocketed significantly. In the report, RCMP said there’s been a 91.6 per cent increase in the number of cases of theft with violence or intimidation.

While it’s a staggering percentage, RCMP pointed out that it was 33 cases and may reflect some changes in the way the data is gathered.

The increase is prompting police to remind residents to report all crimes regardless of size.

“A stolen wallet, a break into a parade, an underground of an apartment building, a storage locker. That’s all important information we can use that information to track where our offenders are most active,” Triance said.

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“A media strategy is being developed to equip businesses with late hours and employees working alone overnight with protective strategies.”

That is being augmented by criminal intelligence analysis of robbery files to identify repeat offenders.

There’s also been increases in mental health issues.

“Areas around social disorder, mental health. Certainly, we saw a spike in quarter two with toxic and fatal overdoses as well as our response to calls for service around drug overdoses and deaths,” Triance said.

Positively, in this period reports of domestic violence were down about 28 per cent compared with 2021, when such cases increased significantly due to pandemic-driven factors.