Current inspector Jeff Pelley officially takes over as Kamloops RCMP officer-in-charge on Wednesday (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

JEFF PELLEY

‘I’m firm on those individuals that are going to incite violence’: New Kamloops’ top cop committed to reduce crime

Oct 24, 2022 | 4:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — More than anything, residents in Kamloops are frustrated about the amount of crime and violence happening in the city.

The 2021 census outlined how crime files in Kamloops hit a five-year high at 13,000 files.

It was the No. 1 issue on the campaign trail and new mayor-elect Reid Hamer-Jackson shoulders some of the pressure, as does new Kamloops RCMP superintendent Jeff Pelley, who officially takes over the role on Wednesday.

“One of our main priorities is reducing crime and it involves focusing on those repeat offenders, the property crime offenders,” noted Pelley. “I’m firm on those individuals that are going to incite violence in this community, continue to commit property crimes. We will be pursuing [them] through an appropriate lens and working with the right partners so there is full accountability.”

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Pelley, who has been in Kamloops for the last 18 months as the inspector, previously served as the officer-in-charge in Williams Lake. He replaces Syd Lecky, who’s leaving for a promotion in the Northwest Territories.

Pelley says it’s a small number of people committing most of the crimes in Kamloops. He adds because the city’s is a bit of hub, it can bring in offenders from other outlying communities.

Pelley acknowledges some offenders need wraparound services to help with their addictions and mental health issues, but he notes the focus will be on trying to catch the offenders who causing most of the problems.

“Now don’t get me wrong, there are syndicates within that group that may be supplying these individuals with drugs or supporting property offenses, and we’re going to focus on those enforcement strategies,” he said. “There are certain individuals that are in need that we don’t necessarily want to criminalize, but again individuals that are more assertive and repeat offenders, absolutely we want to focus on enforcement strategies.”

He feels there needs to be more accountability through the courts, but it’s not something the local detachment can control. Like many officers, Pelley is frustrated at the trend to catch and release these offenders.

“There are a number of offenders where we do see that and we’ve focused back on them. We’ve looked at strategies. I’ve been engaged with Crown counsel and other stakeholders with respect to it,” he said. “We’ve gained some successes, but it can be frustrating for our frontline officers. I’ve seen it time and time, absolutely. We’re going to continue to focus on those [offenders] that have a number of convictions, a number of bail conditions and hold them to full account.”

Pelley would like to see more resources put into mental health calls, encouraging Interior Health to come to the table and offer a second nurse for Car 40.

After some issues with staffing this year, Car 40 is back to its full compliment of two officers and one nurse, but Pelley would like to see more.

“To be frank, I’ve been engaged with Interior Health since as early as last week in active discussions about evolving this program and I look forward to working with them and others on the effectiveness of it and engage it further into our community,” he said.