(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)
May 11, 2017 - 11:35 AM
KAMLOOPS - Criminal offences appear to be down across the board in Kamloops.
RCMP are reporting the overall number of calls for police and actual offences reported were down for the first quarter of 2017 when compared to the same period last year.
While two categories for calls saw increases over last year — calls for issues under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and traffic violations — every single type of crime was down by at least 5.8 per cent compared to 2016.
The biggest decrease was in crimes against property, where there was a drop of 19 per cent in calls and a drop of 19.3 per cent in actual offences — down more than 300 offences. Crimes against property are the biggest category of criminal offences.
Overall the city saw a decrease in offences of 15.4 per cent. Calls were down overall by eight per cent.
Kamloops RCMP say the drop in crime is due in part to efforts by the police to prevent crime, and the weather, specifically a longer, cooler winter and spring. The statistics cover January 2017 to March 2017.
Last year, police reported in the first quarter of 2016 that Kamloops experienced an increase in crime, with an eight per cent rise in reported offences when compared to the first quarter of 2015, including a 12.2 per cent rise in proprty crimes. At the time Supt. Brad Mueller attributed the rise to the city's transient population.
Quarterly statistics are typically released as part of a meeting between city officials and RCMP, but the meeting did not occur this quarter.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017