Vernon crime down in first quarter: RCMP

May 8, 2023 | 1:00 PM

The Vernon North Okanagan RCMP has seen crime decline on an annual basis.

The RCMP’s first quarter report to Vernon city council stated there were 4,319 calls for service, 1,337 criminal code violations and 740 property offences within Vernon in the first three months of 2023.

Compared to the same time frame in 2022, calls for service were down 3.44 per cent, criminal code violations were down 4.56 per cent, and property offences dropped 10.4 per cent in Vernon.

Coldstream had similar declines with 277 calls for service (down 2.46 per cent annually), 54 criminal code violations (down 23.9 per cent) and 39 property offences (down 2.5 per cent).

Supt. Shawna Baher told Vernon Matters, one of the reasons for the lower numbers is a program that focuses on managing prolific offenders.

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“Often the prolific offenders drive crime, and it’s not just usually one crime. They usually go on a run and commit a series of crimes. So when we have the ability to take those individuals away when they’re not abiding by conditions, we have the ability to drop our crime,” Baher explained.

Vernon Rural had somewhat different figures.

The area had 352 calls for service, which was down 6.13 per cent on an annual basis. However, there were 71 criminal code violations and 54 property offences in the area during the first three months of the year, reflecting increases of 22.4 per cent and 47.2 per cent, respectively.

The RCMP’s report said the cases in Vernon and Coldstream resulted in 189 charges being forwarded to Crown counsel and 238 prisoners taken into custody.

There were also 329 mental health related incidents in Vernon and Coldstream in the first quarter, 79 of which resulted in mental health apprehensions.

In the quarterly report, the RCMP highlighted some significant cases of the first three months of the year, including: arresting a man in Polson Park January 9 who was in possession of a sawed-off shotgun, bullets, knife and various tools; locating an abducted child and returning them to their mother February 28; and assisting in a region-wide drug trafficking investigation, which included serving a search warrant in Vernon, that resulted in the seizure of large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as weapons.

The Vernon North Okanagan RCMP’s toxic drug response pilot provided 225 information cards to people suffering from addiction issues in the first quarter of 2023. Through the pilot, eight referrals to addiction services were made, a nurse was called to the station once to assist with the care of someone in custody, and 359 Naloxone kits were provided to people at risk of overdose.

The crime data will be provided to Vernon council for information at the regular meeting Monday, May 8.

by Liam Verster

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