Thefts were down but assaults were up in Kelowna in 2020 | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Kelowna News

Thefts were down but assaults were up in Kelowna in 2020

RCMP Supt. Kara Triance will present her first crime stats report to Kelowna City Council on Monday.
Image Credit: YouTube/rcmptv

Property crime in Kelowna — which includes things like theft, and break and entering — dropped by 16 per cent in 2020 versus 2019.

That followed a 25 per cent increase in that category the year before, according to a report from Kelowna RCMP Supt. Kara Triance that will be presented to city council on Monday, Feb. 22.

“In 2020, the Kelowna RCMP detachment focused on property crimes through proactive policing, public campaigns and targeting known offenders,” the report states. “These efforts, together with pandemic-related factors, resulted in a 16 per cent decrease in property offences from 2019.”

On the flip side, crimes against people, including common and sexual assaults, were up in most categories.

Common assaults were up 17.7 per cent to 1,159, domestic violence increased by 15.3 per cent to 776 cases and theft with violence was up 2.4 per cent to 86 cases.

The cases of uttering threats/harassment were up 40.9 per cent to 648 while assaults with weapons jumped 22.1 per cent to 326.

Sexual assaults (not including sexual interference) were down 9.4 per cent to 144 and other sex offences were down 13 per cent to 47 cases.

There was only one more drug traffic offence in 2020 than 2019 for a total of 172.

There was a 26 per cent drop in non-fatal traffic collisions to 179. The number of fatal crashes was the same in both years at six.

In all, Kelowna RCMP fielded 58,740 calls for service, a drop of 2.5 per cent from 2019.

There were 2,163 thefts from autos, down 23.1 per cent from 2019 and 1,107 cases of shoplifting, a 22 per cent drop.

Police dealt with 553 bike thefts, down 20 per cent and 263 residential break-ins, down 22 per cent.

Auto theft was down 24.5 per cent to 422, with 61 stolen vehicles recovered.

There were 45 people arrested for property crimes and the RCMP are actively monitoring 11 persistent offenders.


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