Kelowna residents more concerned about crime than before COVID pandemic: survey

Kelowna residents feel less safe in their neighbourhoods now than they did in 2019 before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a City of Kelowna survey.

The results of the survey, done in February, were compared to a similar survey done in 2019 and will be presented to Kelowna city council on Monday, May 16.

Even though the vast majority (96%) of the 301 people surveyed feel safe in their own neighbourhoods during the day, it's a 3% drop from 2019.

Two neighbourhoods were particularly worrisome, with 21% of people feeling less safe in Rutland compared to 14% in 2019, while the general downtown area saw 41% of people feeling less safe versus 31% three years earlier, although the core area around Leon and Lawrence avenues improved to 13% feeling less safe versus 22% in 2019.

At night, 77% of respondents felt safe in their own neighbourhoods, down from 82% in 2019.

The decrease in feeling safe comes despite the 25% who reported being victims of crime this year, down from 28% three years ago. On the other hand, fewer people (52%) who were victims of crime reported them to the police this year, up six per cent from 2019.

On questions that were not comparable to the 2019 survey, 50% felt crime, in general, had increased in the city, including 70% who felt property crime had increased and 53% who believed violent crime increased.

At the same time, 80% felt “crime never/rarely or only occasionally impacts their quality of life.”

The survey was conducted through random phone calls to cell and landlines in February by Leger.

Some of the suggestions included in the report are for the city to consider creating programs to support victims of crime along with outreach programs in Rutland and Downtown to ease safety concerns in those neighbourhoods.

Kelowna RCMP reported to city council in February that assaults and other offences against people were up in 2021 compared to 2019 but that property crimes had not yet reached pre-pandemic levels.

READ MORE: Threats and assaults up significantly in Kelowna in 2021

This year’s survey had 43% of respondents saying property crime was the most important, down from 45% in 2019.

Drug-related offences were seen as the second most important at 29% but that’s a drop from 38% in 2019.

Violent crime was the third most important at 13%, up by 5% from 2019.

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