(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Calls to Kelowna RCMP dropped by 22.3% in the downtown core in the first half of this year compared to 2022.

“This is attributed, in part, to enhanced police visibility and targeted ‘hot spot’ enforcement in that area,” states an RCMP report going to city council on Monday, Nov. 6. In real numbers that means 5,487 calls this year, a drop of 1,574.

Calls for service in Rutland jumped 27.4% in the same time period, although that was only 640 calls, totalling 2,977.

“In response, police resources were recently shifted to increase visibility and responsiveness in Rutland, in conjunction with the dedicated Rutland RCMP sub-detachment,” the report says. “Our analytical team has evaluated calls for service to identify strategic opportunities to improve deployment approaches in this area, including the identification of hot spots, peak times and repeat offender management.”

Overall, calls for service throughout the city were down 7.5% to 38,607 for the first half of the year.

A bright spot on the crime front was a 43.9% drop in business break-ins to 355. That compares favourably to an 8% drop provincially.

Residential break-ins were down 10.7% in Kelowna to 167.

“These reductions can be partially attributed to data and intelligence-led strategies implemented by Kelowna RCMP, including a relentless focus on repeat property offenders,” the report says.

Still, break-ins were the biggest driver to the greater Kelowna region having the highest Crime Severity Index in the country and despite the improvement it’s still the major driver on the severity index.

READ MORE: Kelowna retains its crime capital of Canada title

Thefts from vehicles were down 30.6% to 1,035 and bike thefts were down 38.7% to 266.

Fraud on the other hand jumped by 56.7% to 669 files compared to an 11% increase throughout BC.

“These frauds comprise online and phone frauds, banking fraud, forgeries and real estate fraud,” the report says. “In many cases, these files originate in other jurisdictions, including international, which increases the complexities in investigating this crime type. Police strategies targeting fraud are primarily limited to prevention through public awareness and education with the goal of reducing financial loss.”

Crimes against people were up 5.7% to 809, compared to a provincial increase of 5.1%.

While robberies were down 40.7% to 48, sex offences jumped by 20% to 150.

On the traffic side, there were about the same number of collisions recorded (1,219) this year versus 2022 but there were 87.8% more tickets issued (2,051). That was due mainly to the traffic division being fully staffed.

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