Lyonel Doherty, Times Chronicle
It remains to be seen if the province’s investigation into prolific offenders will make a difference in the challenges the RCMP face in the South Okanagan.
During his crime statistics report to the regional district on May 5, Supt. Brian Hunter said he was awaiting the province’s strategy to manage prolific offenders.
About two days later it came in the form of an announcement that “two experts” will be hired to investigate these offenders and the necessary actions to hold them accountable.
This investigation is being completed by a former Vancouver Police Department deputy chief and a mental health researcher and criminologist.
Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran said mayors are at “ground zero” hearing the frustration and seeing the impacts that repeat offenders are having on their communities.
Hunter said the Penticton RCMP have a prolific offender in custody who is responsible for many stolen vehicles and breaks-in. Since he was taken into custody, vehicle thefts dropped significantly, Hunter pointed out.
The superintendent said a prolific offender in Penticton has an average of 57 contacts with police in one year. He noted the top five repeat offenders are responsible for an average of 93 police files a year. One had 98 contacts, he added. Another demonstrated he didn’t have boundaries by creating 145 contacts in the region, Hunter said.
The commander said mental health calls remain prevalent in Penticton, noting they were up 28 per cent last year, and so far this quarter they are up 23 per cent.
“It’s not going down, it’s getting worse.”
Hunter referred to a serious situation in Keremeos where an officer was stabbed in the chest after trying to assist a person who was having a mental breakdown.
“It will be quite some time before he (the officer) recovers . . . by the grace of God he wasn’t killed in that event.”
Hunter said this is just one example of the situations that police encounter daily.
Hunter gave a shout to the City of Penticton for submitting a resolution pressing the government for mental health professionals to accompany police on these calls for service.
In his report, Hunter informed regional directors about the dangerous and erratic behaviour of car thieves who are willing to ram through anything to get away, including the police. He pointed out that Ford F series trucks and Honda Civics are popular among thieves today. In 25 per cent of the Honda thefts, the keys were left in the ignition, Hunter said.
Penticton Mayor John Vassilaki said many people don’t understand the complexities that police must navigate to protect citizens.
Area D director Ron Obirek cited an incident where a homeowner engaged a suspicious person in his yard. When the property owner was asked if he had contacted the police, the answer was no.
Obirek said he understands why some people don’t call the police because of the perception they won’t show up. But the director said you have to give the RCMP a chance to show up.
Obirek said he hears the anxiety and fear from residents, and when they get angry some of them say things that are misleading and inaccurate, which contributes to some of the harm.
Oliver business owner Monica Nemes expressed her frustration on the Times Chronicle Facebook page.
“As someone who has run a business for many years here, I will honestly say that our judicial system is absolutely broken. People can lay blame on absolutely everything and everyone, but the truth is that there is no consequence to anyone’s actions anymore.”
Nemes said she will not call the police the next time her business gets broken into because “nothing will come of it.”
Hunter reiterated a previous comment that police are overwhelmed and do not have the capacity to deal with calls because a lot of them are not even police matters.
