A group of youths vandalized a West Kelowna, B.C., vape shop last weekend, a crime that’s become concerning among police.
According to RCMP, crimes committed by youth are on the rise, and police are focused on tackling that issue.
“There were six youths that smashed the window and grabbed the extra stock of our product and then ran off towards the bus stop it looked liked,” said Mikaela Holdenried, Switch 2 Vapes manager.
“We found out they were selling the product at the youth centre, so that’s how we were able to find out their age that they were younger.”
The youths were caught on camera, smashing the back window of the vape shop and stuffing products in their bags.
Holdenried says that while having the business’s windows smashed in is an inconvenience, it’s even more disappointing to know that it was done by young teens.
“Especially having a sibling in that age range it’s really unfortunate to see that they’re headed in that way but I hope that they’re able to learn from it and do better in that sense,” said Holdenried.
According to RCMP, this problem involving young people is getting worse.
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“The last two or three months we’ve had some concerning incidents involving youth. That’s why we are continuing with the youth prevention program over the summer,” said Kelowna RCMP Const. Mike Della-Paolera.
“Usually, the officers work in the schools from September to June, and then in the summer they break off into other units, but this year we’re going to keep them solely focused on our youth in the community.”
The youth-related crimes, however, go beyond just theft. There have been many kinds of offences, including violent ones.
“It’s using substances like alcohol and drugs which is creating other issues, thefts, but violence is the biggest concern. They’re really hurting each other and we would like that to stop,” said Della-Paolera.
The idea behind the Youth Officer Program is to educate the youth rather than punish them.
“They’re making poor choices like a lot of us did as a youth. Our job is to correct those poor choices and be sort of a guide in their adolescence and get them into adulthood without any unnecessary baggage,” said Della-Paolera.
According to RCMP, some of the more problematic areas officers are seeing the most crimes involving youth are in the downtown core as well as in Rutland, Orchard Park Mall, and public beaches.
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