Vernon's Linear Park.
(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)
November 05, 2019 - 6:30 PM
For the first time in the North Okanagan, the true involvement of the region’s homeless in criminal activity has been documented.
In the 2019 third quarter policing report, Supt. Shawna Baher says there were 656 files associated with the street entrenched population between July and September.
The tracking of street entrenched policing target analysis began June 25, 2019, with 803 files recorded at the end of September. Police didn’t indicate any methodology for how files associated to a street entrenched population were tracked.
READ MORE: How Vernon's downtown cops get compliance through compassion
While the report indicates neither the nature nor the severity of the files, it is the first quarterly report to highlight those files.
According to Baher’s report, there have been 15,741 calls for service year to date, with 5,064 criminal code offences and 3,202 property offences in Vernon.
Coldstream has seen 1,244 calls with 286 criminal code offences and 187 property offences, while rural Vernon saw 1,867.
In the Greater Vernon area — not including Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Lumby or Falkland — there have been 1,726 charges forwarded to Vernon Crown Counsel and 1,218 prisoners held in the Vernon cell block.
Baher will present the 18-page quarterly policing report to the Regional District of North Okanagan on Thursday, Nov. 7.
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