Pubdate: Thu, 23 Jul 2015
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Andrea Peacock
Page: A1

MORE DRUG ARRESTS REDUCES CRIME RATE

An increasing drug crime rate is directly linked to a decreasing 
overall crime rate in Kelowna, says Kelowna RCMP.

In 2012, Kelowna had the highest crime rate in the country among 33 
communities with a population of more than 100,000.

The city fell to No. 3 in the country in 2013, and according to 
Statistics Canada on Wednesday, Kelowna is now in the No. 4 spot.

Kelowna RCMP Supt. Nick Romanchuk credited this to the RCMP's 
continued efforts in targeting drug activity.

"In 2014, the City of Kelowna had the highest drug crime rate in the 
country for communities with a population greater than 15,000. But 
that's good news," said Romanchuk.

"The drug crime rate is linked almost exclusively to the amount of 
proactive work that the police do. If we didn't conduct any drug 
enforcement, we'd have the lowest, or one of the lowest, drug crime 
rates in the country."

In June, the RCMP conducted an undercover investigation to deal with 
increased crime in the downtown core. A team of 20 investigators 
focused on drug trafficking.

Between June 16 and June 30, 44 people were charged with 75 criminal 
offences including drug trafficking, possession of stolen property, 
obstruction and breaches of various court orders.

"We have focused on prolific offenders, that relatively small group 
of offenders who are responsible for the majority of crime in our 
community," he said.

Although Kelowna moved from No. 3 to 4 for crime in Canada, it 
actually had a zero per cent crime rate change from 2013 to 2014.

The move resulted from other cities having increased amounts of crime.

"Essentially, we're doing better than all the rest," said Romanchuk. 
"Even if we stay the same, to me it's good news when everyone else is 
going up."

Romanchuk said he would like to see Kelowna move out of the top five, 
but does not expect any drastic changes due to the high volume of 
tourists that come through the area every year.

"That greatly affects our population, and with that influx of 
tourists comes additional crime."

Kelowna is ranked 17th for violent crime severity, an eight per cent 
decrease from last year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom