After a spate of shootings, murders, and a kidnapping the mayor of Kamloops says he is very aware of the water cooler talk around the city.

Ken Christian says he is very concerned about the deadly violence calling it unprecedented within Kamloops.

Christian says every available resource is being utilized by the RCMP including calling in the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit’s gang team.

“There’s the real risk and then there’s the perception of risk and the perception is often driven by outrage,” he said. “Right now there’s a lot of outrage in the community – a lot of water cooler talk about what’s going on and that’s driving that risk quotient but crime in Kamloops is actually on the downhill.”

“We have been very successful with a lot of initiatives we have put in place with the RCMP.”

Kamloops RCMP say there is a 10 per cent drop in founded offences — that’s the number of calls for service to the RCMP for actual crimes.

In 2018, there were 14,709 calls compared to 16,450 in 2017. That’s according to a report coming to city council this week.