By Adam Donnelly

Kamloops crime numbers drop in 2017 Q1

May 12, 2017 | 6:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — During the first three months of 2016, Kamloops RCMP received over 11,000 calls. From those calls, there were around to 3,600 actual offences reported to police. During that same period of time in 2017, there were fewer calls to Kamloops RCMP, and less crime throughout the city, which is something both the RCMP and the local business community say is trend they’re happy to see.

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Ensuring the population of the city is safe from the effects of crime is job one for the local RCMP, and according to the statistics just released by the detachment, they’re doing their job well. With both the overall number of calls and the actual offences throughout the city down significantly over this time last year.

“I think it’s very important to the overall community safety to see those numbers go down,” Kamloops RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller explained. “ I think it speaks to the good work we’ve done on a number of initiatives.”

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Mueller says that reduction can be attributed to several factor; increased presence and visibility in community, a focus on crime reduction, as well as targeting certain areas where more crimes have been committed.

“The work that we’ve done in identifying hot zones, hot areas, hot spots, and directing resources and being really proactive with our enforcement” are reasons that Mueller believes the number of crimes in the city have gone down.

North Shore BIA Executive Director Steven Puhallo says he’s extremely happy with the work the RCMP has done in collaborating with other agencies.

“We’ve seen a real sea change on the North Shore since the North Shore Community policing Office opened,” Puhallo said. “We’re seeing more boots on the ground, we’re seeing greater law enfacement presence, and we’re also seeing really great coordination and communication between law enforcement, health providers, and social service providers.”

Calls for Crimes Against The Person were down down from 343 to 323 during the first three months of 2017 compared to 2016, an 11% decrease. Property crime calls during the same time period were down by more than 400, a decrease of around 19%. According to Puhallo, decreasing those statistics have helped instill more confidence in the RCMP, and the job they’re doing.

“As a business association, the property crime is something that really hits our radar,” Puhallo explained. “But when you look at overall, the whole picture of Kamloops, it’s better, it’s healthier, there’s less crime

The colder-than-average winter and spring months also played a role in keeping the crime stats lower than last year

 “One of the things we did experience, and we’re already experiencing now with the warmer weather is we’ve seen an increase in new… and vulnerable people [coming] into Kamloops. In the first quarter of 2016, we experienced [the warmer weather] a little earlier,” Mueller said.

Overall, the numbers demonstrate that Mueller’s process works. While there are areas for improvement, like distracted driving enforcement, he plans to keep working his community partners, in the hopes those crime stats continue to drop.