FILE PHOTO - Supt. Syd Lecky.

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

The best measurements of a police department's performance are generally kept internally.

The outgoing Kamloops RCMP commander puts little stock in Statistics Canada measurements, which show the detachment cleared fewer files in 2021 than it had since at least 1998.

"I don't know that (Crime Severity Index) is an accurate measure of judging how a detachment functions," RCMP Supt. Syd Lecky told iNFOnews.ca today, Aug. 19. "Every year, we do have a quality assurance process. We do reviews of our operations and things."

The Crime Severity Index for Kamloops reached 135 in 2021, its highest since 2007. The index assigns a weight to each crime based on whether convictions bring jail sentences and, if so, for how long, according to Statistics Canada.

Instead of those measurements, Lecky said he relies more often on complaints from the public and officer use of force.

READ MORE: Penticton most crime ridden city in Thompson-Okanagan and much of B.C.

"(Complaints) are down by 50% over last year so far this year," he said. "We haven't had those types of complaints, so that's a measure I'm happy to look at."

He said external surveys of community satisfaction with Kamloops RCMP will inform the detachment's performance, which is set to come up some time within the year.

Internally, the detachment audits not only finances, but also the quality of its investigations. However, those are not accessible to the public, he said.

"What I can tell you is we've had really good results," Lecky said. "I've never had egregious issues, certainly not in Kamloops, but you can find things you can tweak."

READ MORE: Kamloops cops solving fewer crimes

By the numbers, Kamloops RCMP solved less crimes in 2021 than it had in the previous 23 years, according to Statistics Canada.

Along with the Crime Severity Index, Statistics Canada assigns a weighted clearance rate to each detachment. Similar to the Crime Severity Index, the weighted clearance rate assigns a higher "weight" to more serious crimes.

The more crimes that are solved, or files cleared, the higher the score. More severe crimes, like homicides or an aggravated assault, can contribute a higher score than vandalism or mischief, according to Statistics Canada.

With a score of 18, the weighted clearance rate in Kamloops is lower than its been since Statistics Canada started tracking the data and the first time Kamloops RCMP was scored below 20.

A 2021 federal RCMP annual report lists the goal for each municipal detachment to be 64.5 weighted clearance rate across the country.

READ MORE: iN VIDEO: Bystander thwarts armed robbery suspect at Kamloops gas station

The RCMP set a national target of 64.5, but only averaged 32.85 in by the end of 2020 across all detachments. That year, the Kamloops detachment was given a score of 24.36.

Lecky said the weighted clearance rate is an inaccurate measurement.

"If I've solved a homicide that happened in 2019 and the charges are laid in 2021, your 2019 stats are going to look like they're not very good," he said.

From 2016, the clearance rate in Kamloops dropped from 32.58 each year to 18 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

Lecky is leaving the Kamloops detachment in the fall of this year after four years as commanding officer.

He's going to the Northwest Territories to lead the provincial RCMP division as a chief superintendent, a promotion that was announced earlier this week.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2022