Crime in Summerland drops thanks to prison sentences | News

Tougher action against repeat offenders has led to a dramatic decline in crime in Summerland County.

Cpl. Sean Hall, deputy detachment commander of the RCMP's Summerland detachment, told Summerland council that there has been a significant drop in crime in the district and surrounding region, which he attributes to a proactive approach to keeping repeat offenders behind bars.

“I am very pleased to report a decline in overall crime in virtually every aspect of our statistical reporting,” Hall said.

“In certain areas you will see dramatic reductions.”

Property and violent crime have declined dramatically in recent months, he said.

Property and violent crime fell by nearly 30 percent in the second quarter, Hall said.

The top three emergency calls in the second quarter of 2024 were traffic incidents, alarms and checking on the well-being of residents. This is good news for officers as they do not have to constantly respond to more serious incidents, Hall said.

Many repeat offenders are held for long periods at the Okanagan Correctional Centre in Oliver and he firmly believes this has led to a decrease in property and violent crime.

“We have noticed that the number of inmates in the Okanagan Correctional Centre has gone down,” he told council. “I have been reviewing my numbers recently and the push to detain and release prisoners … appears to be working.”

“Repeat offenders, people with high recidivism rates, we push to get them into custody. We don't always succeed in doing that, but we've become more successful recently, and I would attribute a large part of our crime reduction to that.”

Deputy Mayor Erin Trainer asked Hall about some incidents of vandalism in Summerland.

These include the destruction of the sign in front of the Kettle Valley Railroad facility and some acts of vandalism near the Giant's Head area.

Hall said there are media contacts within the RCMP who detail such incidents and ask the public for help in finding those responsible.

The public is asked to provide information to the department's offices or they can remain anonymous and provide the same information to Crime Stoppers, Hall said.

“Investigations are still ongoing in both cases,” he said.

The provincial government's decriminalization of small amounts of hard drugs has led to a reduction in the number of charges brought by police under the Narcotics Act, Hall said.