By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Crime in Osoyoos has edged downwards according to stats presented to council on Tuesday, Oct 28 by Detachment Commander Sgt. Jason Bayda.
Apologizing for being behind in the stats, with only the April to June numbers available at this point, Bayda said the department is endeavouring to catch up after a busy summer.
Overall service calls remained almost the same, down slightly in the period year-on-year by 2 per cent.
“Assaults went up by two compared to a year before . . . we had an individual in town involved in the criminal element and into the drug trade and what have you, and the majority of assaults were committed by that one person against victims that associated with him,” Bayda explained.
That individual is now behind bars, “and last I heard we’re looking at an extended stay [for that individual]”.
Intimate Partner Violence remained unchanged at 18 reported incidents, a number that Bayda says is higher but under-reported.
“The thing with domestic violence is a lot of these things happen behind closed doors, where we don’t hear about it. When they do get reported to us, we do our very best to get the people, the victims, help through our victim services and other providers in the community that can help them.”
Noting that auto theft has been a big problem for the last few year,s Bayda says it’s “starting to come down,” noting a slight drop in this reporting period from 16 to 13 incidents.
Break and entry into businesses is at a five year low, with a drop from five to just one incident in the quarter. “So that’s a big positive,” he said, adding that the detachment has been working to promote how not to be a victim of property crime, giving businesses ideas on things they can do, such as surveillance systems.
Shoplifting has seen a significant rise, jumping from five incidents to a dozen, with Bayda suggesting this is a result of one local business in particular that has put in a very effective security system, which means more shoplifters are getting caught.
“Since they’ve done that, we’ve caught a bunch of people, and a lot of them are repeat offenders, mostly stealing clothing,” he said. “We also encourage businesses that if you do see someone and you have someone in your shop that’s doing this, make sure you call us.
“And if it’s a person that’s down on their luck in this one-time thing, we can always go through some kind of alternative measures, like restorative justice,” he said, adding that it’s not always beneficial to go through the criminal justice system. “But if it’s a repeat offender, then the justice system is the only way,” he added.
Bayda noted that the more recent stats for mid-Aug. to mid-Oct. will be out in early Dec., adding that “overall, the stats are pretty decent, we’re seeing a drop across the board on all crime.
“That’s a trend I’ve seen in the last few months of crime dropping, and I think a lot of it has to do with us bringing in extra members for the summer,” he said.
