(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
January 23, 2016 - 1:00 PM
PENTICTON - Crime stats continue an upward trend in Penticton.
Fourth quarter results issued by the Penticton RCMP detachment reveal 4,130 calls for service in the last three months of 2015, compared to 4,066 calls during the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase of 1.6 per cent.
Calls for service in other South Okanagan municipalities including Oliver, Osoyoos, Keremeos and Princeton all bucked the Penticton trend declining from 2014 levels.
Oliver’s call volume was down 10.6 per cent, from 812 calls in 2014 to 726 in 2015, while Osoyoos declined from 717 calls in 2014 to 659 in 2015.
In the Similkameen, Keremeos went from 385 calls in 2014 to 373 calls in 2015, down 3.1 per cent. Princeton’s call volume was also down slightly, by .01 per cent from 495 in 2014 to 491 in 2015.
Criminal code files were up 5.3 per cent in Penticton, while all break and enter categories and vehicle thefts trended upward.
Fifteen 90-day Immediate Roadside Suspensions were issued during the fourth quarter of 2015, including one 24-hour suspension for drug impairment, five 24-hour suspensions for alcohol impairment, one seven-day Immediate Roadside Suspension and one criminal code impaired charge.
Penticton RCMP also investigated 45 drug possession files and three founded trafficking files during the fourth quarter. The detachment also incurred 192 mental health files during the fourth quarter.
Traffic issues of note in the city during the 2015 fourth quarter focussed on the Sendero Canyon area, which continues to be monitored by police.
Speed is believed to be a factor in a collision which resulted in severe injuries to the driver and passenger of a vehicle involved in an incident in the area late last year.
The detachment’s three person Prolific Offenders team investigated and assisted with 180 files during the fourth quarter.
Forty volunteers continued to provide their services to the City of Penticton, accumulating 600 hours of volunteer time in Citizens on Patrol, Community Ambassador, Speed Watch and other programs.
Prisoner counts in the Penticton detachment’s lockup were down last year, from 1,861 in 2014 to 1,685 in 2015.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016