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(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

Crime rose slightly in Kamloops last year and some trends shifted back to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted where crimes occurred and police responded to more break-ins at businesses, while residential break-ins dropped, according to the 2021 annual Kamloops RCMP report.

As restrictions waned and people left their homes more often than in 2020, residential break ins rose to 193 files in 2021. It was a 40% spike from 2020, but a return to 2019 crime levels.

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Businesses still took the majority of break and enters over the three years, but in 2021 there was a 20 per cent drop compared to the previous year. With 325 business break-ins last year, its less than the 404 in 2020, but still more than the 252 incidents in 2019.

Overall, property crime increased by five per cent in 2021.

Police investigated and found criminal offences in 8,176 property crime reports. That's up from 7,812 in 2020 and 8,036 in 2019. These crimes can include a break in, a theft of a vehicle or bike, a theft from inside a car or shoplifting.

Crimes against people were also up by five per cent to 2,615 files in 2021, which can include violent crimes or threats.

Total crimes in Kamloops rose by six percent in 2021 to 13,942 files, according to the annual report.

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While several categories increased over the course of the year, the amount of controlled substance files took a notable drop last year.

In 2021, there was just 701 reports of drug-related crimes to RCMP. That's down by 31 per cent from 1,019, while there were 1,166 in 2019.

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Kamloops RCMP records of domestic abuse have also dropped significantly this year. Domestic abuse files increased to 1,522 in 2020, but took a turn to 1,096 last year.

Out of those thousands of reports, just 281 resulted in charges in 2020 compared to 223 last year.

Kamloops RCMP detachment commander Supt. Syd Lecky will be presenting the annual report to city council on Tuesday, March 29.

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