Kamloops RCMP Supt. Syd Lecky speaks with reporters, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, at a media conference at the detachment.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

This past year proved to be a busy one for the officers at the Kamloops RCMP detachment as they tackled several cases ranging from high-profile drug-related homicides to property crime.

Kamloops RCMP detachment commander Supt. Syd Lecky spoke with reporters today, Dec. 19, at a year-end media event to discuss some of the highlights of the year.

“2019 was certainly a busy year for our detachment. Both in the volume and the severity of the calls we have had to address,” Lecky says.

In total, the detachment received 42,000 calls for service in 2019.

The detachment’s serious crimes unit dealt with a total of three homicides this year.

Two individuals, Hugh Alexander McIntosh and Gordie Wayne Braaten, have been arrested and charged with murder of Jason Glover and attempted murder of another individual from an incident stemming from Feb. 15.

Police have not made any arrests yet in a double-homicide that occurred on Jan. 23 that left Cody Mathieu, 31, and  Rex Gill, 41, dead.

In 2018, Troy Gold’s remains were found outside of city limits. Lecky says this was the only homicide that took place in the Kamloops area that year. Five individuals were arrested in connection to Gold’s death earlier this year.

In addition to serious crimes, Lecky mentioned there has been a growing concern about violence towards police officers in Kamloops. For the third year in a row members were shot it in various incidents, Lecky said.

In 2017, there was an hours-long standoff in the G&M Trailer Park where a man was charged with shooting at Kamloops RCMP officers.

In 2018, a man was left dead after exchanging gunfire with a Kamloops Mountie in a rural area just outside of Kamloops. An Independent Investigation Office of B.C. report cleared the officer of any wrongdoing in the September 2018 death.

Earlier this month, two people were charged with the attempted murder of three RCMP officers near Falkland. Some of the officers who responded to this incident, were from Kamloops, Lecky said.

“Violence directed towards police is very disturbing,” Lecky says.

The detachment also put a dent in the city's drug trade by seizing weapons and drugs. So far in 2019, there have been 11 firearms seized, more than $500,0000 in cash seized from various operations, with 1,561 grams of cocaine, 570 grams of fentanyl and 1,689 grams of methamphetamines seized as well.

“That was pretty outstanding year and some good work by a team that’s under a lot of pressure,” he says.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2019