Some crimes in Oliver are down, according to the Oliver RCMP, who are glad to see more criminals off the streets. File photo
A decrease in some crimes, more criminals off the street, and a new police officer in Oliver is good news, according to the local RCMP commander.
Sergeant Blaine Gervais made a presentation to council on Monday regarding (second quarter) crime statistics in Oliver and Osoyoos.
He noted that assaults were down 44 per cent compared to last year (from 63 to 35).
However, Gervais said business break-ins saw a 40 per cent increase (from 32 to 44). But he pointed out that Oliver only had 22.
He did mention that some of these incidents occurred at the Oliver landfill and that one individual was apprehended.
Gervais said residential break-ins decreased 54 per cent, but noted that fraud cases increased 71 per cent.
“They (the culprits) are impossible to catch,” he said, adding that he even received a call from a suspected scammer.
The caller indicated that he won $900 towards a $6,000 trip. He listened for a couple of minutes and hung up after determining it was fraud.
The commander told council that thefts from vehicles were down 14 per cent, and the overall call volume is down five per cent from 2015.
Gervais said the RCMP are still investigating a serious assault that occurred in Oliver last summer. A man suffered life-threatening injuries after being beaten at a residence on McKinney Road in mid-June of 2015.
“We have the guys (perpetrators) in mind, but we just have to get them to talk,” Gervais said.
The sergeant mentioned the dangerous offender application for prolific offender Ronald Teneycke, who robbed Eastside Grocery and shot an Oliver man in the back last summer.
He also mentioned the TELUS tower vandalism investigation that has “stalled” for lack of evidence. He noted that an individual (Steven Joseph Godbout) was sentenced to two years in jail for a break, enter and theft involving a building next to the vandalized tower.
Gervais said people won’t be seeing Godbout for two years, commenting that he has never seen a sentence that high for the crimes in question.
The officer also noted that a trio of prolific offenders that committed break-ins and thefts in Oliver is also off the street after their arrest this year.
Gervais said there was a lot of fuel theft in the area, in addition to the theft of a five-ton truck and excavator (but these vehicles were recovered).
The commander said there were incidents of theft from grocery stores by fruit pickers . . . “because they were broke.” And there were some fights among seasonal workers . . . “because there were no jobs.”
Gervais said, in shoplifting cases, you need to have a visual of the thefts and the perpetrator walking out of the store.
Mayor Ron Hovanes suggested that stores should hire students wearing “security” shirts with fake earbuds in their ears to deter shoplifters.
Hovanes asked about crimes in Lion’s Park where seasonal workers were blamed. But Gervais said more often than not, it was the locals causing issues in the park.
Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger said he has heard far fewer complaints about Lion’s Park this year.
“It seems a much quieter season, one of the quietest summers in Lion’s Park,” he noted.
Gervais mentioned that Oliver has a new officer in town, who is “bigger than me and has got more muscles.”
The sergeant noted the detachment is still expecting an additional member to join the squad.
By Lyonel Doherty
