Penticton the break-and-enter capital of the Thompson-Okanagan
RCMP regularly report to local governments on the crime scene in each of their communities in the Thompson-Okanagan region.
Those often show what happened in the last quarter and compare numbers to the same three months of the previous year.
Plus, RCMP don't list actual numbers of crimes, which makes it difficult or impossible to compare activity in different communities.
Statistics Canada, on the other hand, posts the actual number of crimes per year but also converts those to rates per 100,000 population and includes dozens of criminal code offences to choose from.
It’s not as up-to-date as the local RCMP detachments, since the latest data is only up to 2022, but it provides a clear picture of Penticton being far more prone to break-ins of all kinds than other regional cities, although Kelowna pushed ahead in 2022.
Over the five years from 2018 to 2022, Penticton had more than 1,000 break-ins per 100,000 for the first three years, peaking at 1,479 in 2019. While that has dropped, it was still at 839 per 100,00 in 2022.
Kamloops had a mere 320 break-ins per 100,000 back in 2018 but that rate, just like its auto theft rate, has steadily increased, hitting 744 in 2022.
READ MORE: Kamloops, Okanagan have some of the highest auto theft rates in the country
Kelowna has seen its break-in rate climb to 880 per 100,000 in 2022 – the highest of the five cities in that year – although it’s down from the peak of 942 in 2019.
Vernon has seen a decline to 514 per 100,000 in 2022 from its five-year peak of 725 in 2018.
West Kelowna has consistently been at or near the bottom showing the lowest rate in 2022 at 459 per 100,000, down from its 2019 peak of 597.
Vancouver is included in the graph in order to give a picture of big city crime. It’s usually in the middle of the pack when compared to the Thompson-Okanagan’s five largest cities.
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