Dale Boyd
Times-Chronicle
South Okanagan RCMP are facing frustrations with the lack of lock-up during the pandemic, as the area’s top cop is putting an end to “feel-good patrols” and giving more autonomy to rural commanders to tackle chronic criminal offenders.
A quarterly report from the officer in charge of the South Okanagan RCMP showed a continued decrease in calls for service in Oliver and Osoyoos — however police are still facing frustration while operating during the pandemic.
“Having a client of ours remanded (in custody) is basically not happening anymore. Unless it is a very serious offence where public safety is an extreme issue,” said Supt. Brian Hunter as he presented the crime stats from January to March 2020 to the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen during a May 21 board meeting.
“We have made a lot of arrests with our chronic offenders, there was one just last week, well over a dozen new charges, break and enters those types of things, and was released the next day. That’s just the world were facing right now and we are going to continue doing our job and do it well, but it is definitely a point of frustration with our members.”
Hunter said he is developing a more “robust crime strategy” for the region and giving more autonomy to regional commanders in areas like Oliver and Osoyoos.
The plan includes commanders of local detachments engaging in local strategic planning, consulting with community members and elected officials and breaking down annual performance plans into specific regions instead of the entire South Okanagan.
“That didn’t make sense to me in that every community has their own specific issues, and not only that, every community will have their own specific way of dealing with the issues and various objectives and initiatives that will be undertaken by the local commander in consultation with community partners,” Hunter said. “All of our area detachment commanders are very excited about this.”
Hunter is putting more police on street on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings in the South Okanagan to increase visibility by transferring overtime hours from what he called “feel-good patrols” throughout the day. Hunter said he is looking to spend money to bring down our crime rate with chronic offenders and hold them to account with surveillance and other measures.
“Between Oliver and up to Penticton, through that corridor, our chronic offenders don’t have borders. So it will be a regional approach to our chronic offenders, of which we have a lot.”
No permanent commander in Oliver for eight months
The number of crimes and calls for service has risen year-over-year for four years in Oliver, Hunter said, as the search is underway for a new permanent RCMP commander for the local detachment.
It will be at the very least eight months before a permanent commander takes over for Oliver RCMP, with an interim commander, Cpl. Brian Evans, currently running both the Keremeos and Oliver detachments. A senior constable from Penticton is also assisting Oliver RCMP. Hunter said there will not be an impact to policing in Keremeos while Evans looks after both detachments.
“If we have an issue somewhere we are all going to respond to that issue. So as much as I want the commanders to be autonomous and run their detachment, we also have the pooling ability with those resources, the surge capacity I call it, if there’s a major event happening in any of those areas,” Hunter said.
Having a new commander for Oliver in eight months may be optimistic thinking, he noted.
“The RCMP is known as the Big Red Machine sometimes, and the Big Red Machine can move a little bit slow,” Hunter said. “I would say in a very positive optimistic tone it will be at least eight months before a permanent commander is named for Oliver.”
Hunter said it is 95 per cent likely the position will be a promotion from within the RCMP.
“I’d just ask please be patient. If this was Brian Hunter Security Company we would have them hired next week, but it’s not, it’s the RCMP. I will tell you that COVID, with our organization, administratively, so many things are on hold including these processes because it involves transfers and selling houses,” Hunter said.
Oliver RCMP have full support from the entire region in the meantime, Hunter said.
Crime by the numbers
Oliver saw an eight per cent decrease in the total number of case files (830) from the same time last year, and a four per cent decrease of total case files in the previous quarter in 2019 (October to December).
Osoyoos saw a 16 per cent decrease of overall case files from the same time last year, with 485 occurring from January to March — as well as a 16 per cent decrease compared to the final quarter of 2019.
The top call for service in Oliver during the first quarter of 2020 was a request for assistance from fire or ambulance with 86 calls, followed by 52 abandoned 911 calls, 51 traffic incidents, 50 calls for assault, 45 for theft, 36 responses to alarms, 33 for disturbances and 31 for suspicious circumstances.
In Osoyoos, the top call for service in the first quarter of 2020 was abandoned 911 calls, with 31, followed by calls to an alarm with 29. There were 25 calls for theft, 24 for property related incidents and 24 for traffic incidents.
Police priorities for the coming year continue to be the reduction of property crime in Osoyoos and Oliver, as well as traffic safety.
