There has been a sharp increase in crime in Osoyoos this year compared to last, but the increase is not as big as in some other Okanagan communities.
Cpl. Jason Bayda of the Osoyoos RCMP Detachment says the number of criminal code files so far this year is up more than 20 per cent from this time last year.
This includes offences involving violence, thefts, break and enters, vehicle thefts and drugs. The comparison between last year and this year was not broken down by specific offences.
In recent months there has been a significant number of break-ins to businesses and houses and thefts of vehicles.
Bayda says the rash of break-ins at businesses has slowed down in recent weeks in Osoyoos.
Although the crime increase in Osoyoos is significant, it is not as steep as in other communities such as Oliver and Penticton, Bayda points out.
The crime spike in Oliver, and lack of police resources to deal with it, was the topic of a recent in-depth report on CBC Radio.
Bayda acknowledged that Oliver has seen the most significant increase, while Penticton’s crime increase has also been high.
“When you see Penticton and Oliver increasing and us increasing, it’s a good sign that criminals are travelling,” said Bayda. “A lot of the stuff that is happening down here is people travelling down to our area and then leaving. Some of the stuff that’s been stolen in this area has been found outside our area.”
The smaller crime increase in Osoyoos may just be because this community is farther for criminals to travel, Bayda suggested.
Although travelling criminals are believed to be involved in the majority of the crimes, RCMP are still investigating whether local people are involved, Bayda said.
“It could be locals involved and working for someone else and moving the property out of town,” he said.
Police are making progress, Bayda said, even if charges have not been laid.
Two weeks ago, a vehicle was stolen in the 107th Street area and then rolled. Witnesses saw the driver fleeing the area. Although police were not able to catch the driver, they did find a cellphone in the vehicle linking them to a person.
“We found out who the owner of the cellphone is,” said Bayda. “We would actually like to speak to that person … to talk to them about how the cellphone was in the vehicle. I would encourage this person to come forward and speak to us at the Osoyoos RCMP and see if they can explain to us the circumstances.”
In a recent break-in at Ella Greek and Mediterranean Restaurant, police recovered DNA of a suspect.
“We will be looking to have that person arrested in the near future,” said Bayda. “The DNA that we’ve taken at the scene has been analyzed and has come back to a match of a person that we know. That person will be facing charges of break and enter very shortly.”
Asked if police believe similar people may be involved in the recent crime wave, Bayda said he couldn’t discuss that at this time.
“We are making some progress,” he said. “It’s slow, especially when you’re dealing with DNA and getting things analyzed at the lab. It does take time and I know people get frustrated with the rate that things are happening, but there are so many steps that we have to take to ensure that when we take a case before the courts that we have a solid case and we’re not just going with hunches.”
In some of the business break-ins, the thieves have broken good commercial locks, suggesting they knew what they were doing, Bayda said.
“We’re talking about secured businesses that were broken into,” he said. “In other cases you had some floats that were left overnight. I’ve mentioned before that we encourage all business owners to make sure they don’t leave any money in the business at night and even leave signs on the doors saying that there’s no currency left on the site.”
The same precautions apply to homeowners and vehicle owners, he said.
Vehicles should be locked and valuables kept out of sight.
“The adage of out of sight, out of mind is huge when it comes to property crime,” said Bayda. “Many thefts from vehicles are simply change taken out of the console and it’s visible to the person outside. They smash a window or pry a door open simply to get 50 cents.”
Thieves often go knocking door to door at houses and if someone answers they have a story, he said. If there is no answer, they try the door to see if it’s unlocked.
While some will break into a house anyway, many will simply go to the next house if they find the door locked, Bayda said.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
