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Break-ins are getting more common in Kamloops and they also appear to be increasingly sophisticated.

There were more than two break-ins per day at businesses and homes in Kamloops last year, according to RCMP data.

"In a one week period, two business we own got broken into... then the retail store next to where my wife works had an armed robbery," local developer Joshua Knaak said. "Normally I would be stunned, but I'm not anymore."

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He's spoken to others in the real estate industry that have seen nearly a break-in per day at their apartment buildings.

Knaak said they appear to be organized rather than thieving for survival.

"Most of the break-ins we've had are not people that are living on the street at all. They know what they're doing," he said. "There are pros in the city for sure."

His notion was echoed by the head of a local business association.

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"There's a whole other paradigm of people on our street who are thieving for business," Jeremy Heighton with the North Shore Business Association said. "These are folks who are actually doing this professionally."

Kamloops RCMP recorded 834 break and enters in 2022, split among businesses and residential properties, compared to 679 in 2021, according to data given to the City of Kamloops. However, Statistics Canada shows there were just 606 in 2021. The federal government's data also recorded 314 break-ins in 2018, the lowest in the past ten years, but that steadily rose each year since.

"We've become accustomed to two or more robberies a day in our city of 100,000 people," Knaak said. "It's very frustrating because we've become accustomed to this and nothing happens."

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While statistics show homes and businesses have been increasingly targeted over the past four years, it's far below the number of break-ins before 2008. From 2000 to 2007, there were around 1,000 break-ins per year, which dropped by 35% in 2008.

Statistics Canada shows crime data back to 1998, reaching its lowest point in 2018 with just 315 reported by Kamloops RCMP. 

It's not clear how many break-ins have been in the city this year so far, but Heighton expects police statistics will underreport what business owners are actually facing. Some business owners have even stopped reporting break-ins, he said.

Last year in a survey, businesses across Kamloops reported spending a total $1 million to recover from theft and vandalism, with another $1 million on crime reduction techniques.

That survey was spread among 128 businesses across the city, mostly downtown and along the North Shore. Heighton said another updated survey will begin this spring.

There are no statistics about the costs for local homeowners after a residential break-in.

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