By Tom Mark

Vernon Mounties Taking A Bite Out Of Crime

Jul 31, 2017 | 11:09 AM

The overall crime rate in Vernon during the 2nd quarter of the year dropped compared with the same period last year.

In his 2nd quarterly report for 2017, RCMP Superintendent Jim McNamara says the number of criminal code cases from April through June dropped by 5.41 per cent.

However, property crime is up by 1.78 per cent.

The report says, despite that increase, there have been a number of successes, including an interview of a suspect in police custody for break and enter resulted in a confession to three residential break and enters.

The report goes on to say the detachment’s Crime Reduction Unit is monitoring a number of known prolific offenders.

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The report says there are 22 prolific offenders identified for monitoring in our area.

Of those, there are currently 11 in custody and 11 not in custody, with several residing in other jurisdictions.

It says the unit has played a key role in conducting patrols and attending meetings with stakeholders to find solutions to the ongoing problems in key areas of the community.

As a part of their patrols, they interact with various members of the community which has resulted in the execution of several arrest warrants and breach of court condition charges.

Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP continue to play an increasing role in catching impaired and distracted drivers.

Superintendent McNamara says there has been a 21.8 per cent increase in road safety check stops conducted throughout the region.

A total of 121 impaired drivers were caught April through June.

One hundred and two of them in Vernon and Coldstream, while 19 were stopped in the rural areas.

One driver is facing other charges in connection with a crash near Enderby involving multiple vehicles.

There were 16 distracted drivers stopped in Vernon and Coldstream and 7 by rural officers.

Officers were also kept busy with the local flooding and activation of Emergency Operation Centers throughout our area.

They assisted with issuing evacuation notifications, established road blocks in evacuated areas and pitched in as time permitted to help fill the hundreds of sand bags needed in Coldstream and the Okanagan Landing area.

Targeted Policing provided assistance to a number of General Duty, Serious Crimes and Provincial GIS investigations.

In an effort to continue working closely with partner agencies and stakeholders, the Targeted Policing Unit meet regularly with numerous partner agencies including Outreach, Interagency, Mentally Disordered Offenders, COOL Team and Public Spaces Action Team, which began as a multiagency approach to harmful behaviors and safety concerns in and around the Vernon library and other public areas.

The Serious Crimes Unit continues to work on numerous historical major cases which were initiated outside of the reporting period, while taking on new cases.

These included an individual who had engaged in conduct with the intent to provoke a state of fear in a justice system participant.

Charges were approved and the individual was arrested and released pending court.

Other cases involved the continuing investigation of the attempted murder of a person in Vernon, the arrest of a Vernon man for child pornography related offences and the homicide of a woman in Okanagan Landing where one person was arrested and remains in-custody as the case goes through the courts.

by Tom Mark