Kamloops RCMP are out with their annual stats and in 2019 there was a 4% increase in calls for service when compared to the year prior.
Overall calls saw 45,235 in 2019 compared to 43,611 in 2018. That included 892 missing person files and Superintendent Syd Lecky adds that calls for domestic violence were up slightly. “In 2019 the Kamloops detachment also responded to 1,258 violence in relationships investigations, or more commonly referred to as domestic violence, compared to 1,152 in 2018.”
There was also a near 17.9% increase in property crimes year over year with 8,250 reports in 2019 compared to 6,995 files in 2018.
When it comes to traffic offences, Lecky says there were 4,414 traffic related charges laid last year and another 1,700 warnings handed out. “260 charges for impaired, which I still think is an alarming number for us considering where we are in the amount of messaging we are trying to get out on that topic, but it just goes to show that that problem still exists. 748 charges related to the use if electronic devices while driving, again another alarming statistic I believe.” There were 5,569 Traffic related charges in 2018.
During his presentation, Lecky was asked about the two new municipal employees that were approved in the city’s budget. Lecky says the analyst program is going to help in other ways, more so than what you will see in the day-to-day, boots on the ground operations. “That has more to do with some of our major files. The disclosure that was required in the Troy Gold homicide file was the most in the history of the Kamloops detachment. These are game changers in the sense that there is so much information that has to be forwarded now in specific formats to the crown in the digital age that we’ve required to change how we do business and to try and funnel. So, a lot of the traffic jam is how we get info to the crown. So that’s really where you are going to see that.”
Of course, just like everyone else, Kamloops RCMP are trying to plan for the impact of COVID-19. Lecky says it is unknown exactly how the novel coronavirus will impact operations. “How that will impact how we do business is part of our new business continuity planning and and our pandemic plan that we have in place. So, it remains to be seen how this is going to impact us all. I’m hopeful that if we get back to some sort of normal process that we’ll be able to counteract the best we can with the boots on the ground.”
Yesterday, the Mayor announced that people are asked to report any crimes
Lecky adds that staffing numbers are “the best that they have probably ever been.”
