UPDATE 1:55 p.m A large tourism sector, a lack of social services and a growing population have pushed Kelowna’s crime rate to the highest in the country, according to the Central Okanagan’s top Mountie. Supt. Kara Triance held a press conference Wednesday to respond to a StatsCanada report that placed Metro Kelowna’s crime rate per 100,000 residents the highest in the country. Metro Kelowna spans the entire Central Okanagan Regional District. “These numbers, don’t get me wrong, are very worrying. We’re seeing them step up and respond accordingly,” Triance said, while outlining a number of proactive policing measures the detachment has deployed. Triance noted that StatsCanada’s crime rate data omits visitors and tourists to the city, which will raise the crime rate in the area. He was unable to quantify that impact when asked what percentage of crimes could be attributed to tourists. When pressed about the relatively low crime rates of other tourist centers like Victoria and Vancouver, he said those larger centers have far more social services. “Here, we know it can be a six-month wait for someone who has a complex addiction issue, who is committing a crime in our area and is picked up by our proactive law enforcement team and wants to address their addiction,” Triance said. “Instead, they are released onto the streets with nowhere to live and are left in a state where they will commit more crimes.” Triance said the “catch and free” justice system also affects crime rates, returning to earlier criticisms of prosecutors and courts. With Metro Kelowna being the fastest growing metropolitan area in Canada, all the municipalities served by the regional detachment have increased their police funding — something Triance is grateful for. “We know that with growth, we have to increase our response, we’re going to see an increase in police-reported incidents and we’re going to see an increase in population-reported incidents.” He said they focus on partnerships with community associations and groups to address neighborhood issues. Partnerships with Interior Health and other social service groups target the root cause of crime. “I’m not here to tell you we don’t have a problem to answer. I’m here to tell you that these relevant statistics are ones we are actively working on.” ORIGINAL 1 p.m Kelowna’s RCMP commander says this week’s StatsCanada report that pegs the area’s crime rate as the country’s highest lacks context. Supt. Kara Triance says Kelowna saw a significant drop in crime in 2020 due to the pandemic, so comparing that year to 2021 may not be fair. He noted that crime in the Central Okanagan has increased by just 4% between 2019 and 2021. The crime rate per 100,000 residents increased by 10% between 2020 and 2021. “2020 was a more extreme year and not a direct comparison,” he said in an email to Castanet. Many other cities, however, saw decreases in their crime rates between 2020 and 2021. Vancouver (-7%) and Victoria (-6%) saw their crime rate decrease while the national rate rose just 1%. Triance also noted that Kelowna’s big tourist draw — 1.9 million visitors last year — skews the crime rate per 100,000 residents. He is holding a press conference at 1pm to address the situation.
