Property crime rising again in Kamloops: RCMP

Crime in the Tournament Capital is rising again.

Nowhere was it more pronounced than business break-ins which are up by 44 per cent in Kamloops by the end of March. Kamloops RCMP recorded 105 break and enters in the first quarter, compared to 73 in 2021 during the same time period.

Supt. Syd Lecky will present the first quarter report to the City later this week, which shows an overall property crime jump by 10% from last year.

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Property crimes dropped last year compared to the 2020 jump in break-ins and shoplifting, according to Kamloops RCMP data. But criminal behaviour was back on the rise from January to the end of March this year.

Pre-pandemic, the detachment recorded 1,685 property crime files in the first quarter of 2019. That increased to 2,326 in 2020, then dipped last year to 2,078.

At 2,283 property crimes reported to Kamloops RCMP this year, it takes up roughly one fifth of all police files.

Residential break-ins also increased this year, but the difference is less drastic than businesses have experienced. At 41 files so far, RCMP recorded a 14% increase from 36 in 2021.

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Reports of thefts from vehicles have dropped steadily since 2020, from 528 in that year to 320 in 2022. However, more vehicles were stolen this year.

Thirty-nine vehicles were reported stolen to police in 2019, jumping to 94 in 2020. Last year, 71 were stolen, which jumped again to 105 so far this year.

"Property crime continues to be the main driver of concern from our community," Lecky's letter accompanying the report reads.

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The report does not offer details into who is committing these crimes. However, other B.C. cities have seen increases in property crime, often with small numbers of prolific offenders responsible for the majority of the files.

In Kelowna, for example, 15 prolific offenders were responsible for 1,039 police files in the first 11 months of 2021.

City staff are now looking at ways to incentivize hiring more Crown prosecutors, and to hire one specifically to take on repeat offenders.

The province has also taken note of the issues facing several B.C. cities and is now in the process of studying how to deal with those offenders who have been continually released into communities. A report is expected to be finished by this fall.

Out of those fifteen offenders in Kelowna, nine of them were out in the community in December.

While there is more property crime in Kamloops, including break-ins, robberies and thefts, crime against people has dropped.

The report doesn't detail exactly which crimes, like assaults and thefts, but police recorded a 4% decline in crime against persons.

Lecky will present the first quarter report to a City committee on Thursday, providing an overview of overall crime trends in Kamloops, compared to the last three years.

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