Today Statistics Canada released their 2022 Police Reported Crime in Canada annual report. As projected in recent months, the Kelowna Census Metropolitan (CMA), maintained its 2021 ranking of second among 34 CMAs nationally in total crime. The Kelowna CMA consists of Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland and is one of four CMA’s in British Columbia. In 2022, the Kelowna CMA was ranked first among the 34 CMA’s for its non-violent crime (second in 2019 to 2021) and ninth in violent crime severity (seventh in 2021).
Notably, on its own as a city in the Province of B.C. and not as a CMA, Lake Country ranked 129th, Peachland ranked 121st, West Kelowna ranked 84th, and Kelowna ranked 34th in the list of cities in Crime Severity Index
While the Kelowna CMA crime rate decreased in 2022 by 5%, it was the highest among the 34 CMA’s in Canada. Note that crime rate differs from CSI and is defined as the number of Criminal Code offences or crimes (excluding drugs and traffic) reported for every 100,000 persons. Property crime continues to drive the Kelowna CMA’s CSI. Specifically, in 2022, this included Theft from Motor Vehicle, Shoplifting, Fraud, Break and Enter, and Theft Under. In response to these drivers, Kelowna Regional RCMP increased focus on these crime types in several ways:
Most recently, Kelowna Regional RCMP has modernized and reinstated the Repeat Offender Management Program that partners with BC Prosecution Service, Probation Services and Corrections to strategically address repeat offenders through a coordinated and focused approach, prioritizing the most problematic offenders. For Violent Crime Severity, the Kelowna RCMP responded to the results of the 2022 statistics in 2023, by making immediate changes such as: creating an Integrated Child Exploitation Team, focusing on the most serious crimes to bring them to conclusion, implementing more strategic data lead policing responses, and engaging with community partners.
The Kelowna Regional RCMP, continue to communicate throughout the year to the public on the factors influencing Kelowna’s CSI through routine reporting in Mayor’s reports. Year to date in 2023, we know the influencers in our non-violent property crime for our 2023 CSI are; Fraud up 51%, Shoplifting down 1%, Break and Enter down 39%, Theft from Motor Vehicle down 34% and Theft Other down 18%.
The Kelowna RCMP would like to thank the public for acknowledging that everyone plays a part in contributing to the overall safety of our community and remind the community to continue to lock up their personal and valuable items. More than 25% of stolen property is reported unlocked. You too can help us keep our city safe by locking your valuables. Kelowna RCMP also encourage residents to continue to use the “Online Reporting Tool” to report non-emergency and non-violent crimes to the Kelowna RCMP. There has been an increase of 33% year over year in the use of this online reporting tool.
As noted in the Statistics Canada report a high crime rate or Crime Severity Index (CSI) may indicate that a municipality is a geographical area that provides commercial business, human or public services, or entertainment for many people who reside outside, as well as inside, the municipality. As a result, these municipalities may have large part-time or temporary populations which are excluded from both their population bases and their crime rate and CSI calculations.
Kelowna Regional RCMP Detachment received this report today and our analysts are working to review the abundance of data to ensure a fulsome understanding and to ensure our crime reduction and community safety strategies are the most impactful responses. “Kelowna Regional RCMP Detachment remains fully committed to addressing crime in our community, while providing an exceptional policing service,” says Superintendent Kara Triance. “I am really pleased to report since the release of the 2021 report last year, we have seen a steady decrease in crime in almost every area of violent and non-violent crime. Our officers will continue to be relentless in tackling the drivers of crime in our community and serve our public tirelessly with commitment and professionalism. We appreciate the partnerships and continued work of justice, health, and housing who together can effect significant change, getting to the roots of criminality.”
The Kelowna RCMP remains dedicated to continuing the work that we have been doing in the last year to ensure the City of Kelowna remains a safe place to live, work and enjoy.
The city also responded to the release of the CSI report:
The City of Kelowna and Kelowna RCMP are reaffirming their commitment to crime reduction and community safety in response to Statistics Canada’s release today of its annual Crime Severity Index (CSI). “Crime and safety are among the top priorities of this Council,” said Mayor Tom Dyas. “We hear and share the frustration many residents and business owners have about this issue, and we are steadfast in our commitment to addressing crime in Kelowna and building the safest, most vibrant community possible.”
The Kelowna RCMP and City of Kelowna received the CSI report today and are reviewing the data prior to making more detailed comment tomorrow. The CSI report released this year, which analyzes data from 2022, ranked the Central Okanagan second in crime overall, ninth in violent crime and first in non-violent crime. Property crime is driving the region’s CSI score. The RCMP reported more than 25 per cent of stolen property is reported unlocked, a reminder that simply locking our doors is a great way to protect our property. “We have developed a series of programs and resources to address key areas of crime and safety for our community,” Dyas added. “The 2023 budget provides funding for six new RCMP officers and four Bylaw Services officers. We also approved an ongoing one per cent Public Safety Levy which will ensure we can continue to invest in new crime and safety initiatives as we recognize there is more that needs to be done.”
The Mayor’s Task Force on Crime Reduction, which met for the first time on July 12, is enabling Council to better hear from and work with a variety of voices in our community bringing new ideas to ongoing efforts to reduce crime. Additionally, the City has been a leading advocate for greater provincial justice system response to repeat property crime offenders. Advocacy efforts have led to a Provincial investigation into repeat offending and a recent tabling of bail reforms against repeat violent offenders by the Federal Minister of Justice.
The CSI report was released this morning, analyzing police-reported crime in 36 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) across Canada. There are only four CMAs in B.C. — Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria and Abbotsford-Mission. The Kelowna CMA includes Peachland, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation, Kelowna and Lake Country.
The Kelowna RCMP uses Statistics Canada data alongside its own expertise and internal data to respond to trends and community needs in a timely manner. The RCMP provides routine reporting and analysis to the public and City Council on crime in our community and this data is used to target and reduce specific types of prevalent crime in our community on an ongoing basis. Encouragingly, the RCMP reported a 32.8 per cent drop in cases of business break-and-enter in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Because the CSI is based on 2022 data, these 2023 trends are not reflected in the Statistics Canada release.
Residents can promote safety in their neighbourhood by becoming a Block Connector, which is part of the City’s Strong Neighbourhoods program. The Strong Neighbourhoods program aims to build a sense of community and connectedness on every street, apartment and condo complex in Kelowna. Visit kelowna.ca/blockconnector for more information.