B.C. municipality sees increase in property, fraud crimes

SUMMERLAND, B.C. — A major cause of concern in Summerland – violent crime – is now on a downward trend, the district’s top cop told council this week.

“Summerland continues to enjoy a reduction in the majority of crime,’ Cpl. Sean Hall told council. “Violent crime continues to be reduced. Violent crime and sex offences and anything involving intimate-partner violence and violent crime overall has seen a dramatic reduction from this time last year, by 48 per cent. We also continue to enjoy a reduction in property crimes such as residential break and enters and thefts.”

While encouraging, it’s not all great news as there has been a spike in other crime statistics.

“What we do see though, on these stats, is the elevation in property crime in the areas of auto theft, bicycle theft, as well as an overwhelmingly large phenomenon with fraud,” he said.

“You can see, we went up from nine to 25, an increase of 178 per cent. I will have you know though, the figure doesn’t sit well with me. It’s quite disturbing. It’s understood where it’s happening and why it’s happening.”

There were several arrests made in Summerland during the past quarter in relation to a multi-jurisdictional property crime clampdown that involved organized crime groups involved in the majority of residential and business break and enters, he said.

“They were arrested in Chilliwack in possession of a lot of property from people and vehicles that were contributed to Summerland as well as throughout the Okanagan,” he said.

The majority of property crime in Summerland and area continues to be “crimes of opportunity” where vehicles or homes are targeted because owners don’t take the appropriate action to protect themselves, he said.

“We tell them not to leave keys in their vehicle because it’s incredibly easy to steal a truck if you leave the key in it,” Hall said of a media campaign.

“Wallets, bicycles, passports, items of that kind of thing, being left in a vehicle, along with laptops or anything that is easily removable or can be easily resold (will be targeted by thieves).

Overseas fraud difficult to investigate

The vast majority of new fraud cases, more than 60 per cent, are internet-based.

“A lot of this is from overseas and they are incredibly difficult to investigate, if not impossible,” he said. “A lot of them come from Third World countries, where no (extradition) agreements exist.”

Public education is the best way to prevent more residents from Summerland and across the region from becoming yet another victim of online fraud scams, he said.

“A lot of the victims in these happen to be seniors and more vulnerable groups, who is exactly who these fraudsters tend to target,” he said.

Officers are spending time visiting local retirement homes doing presentations warning seniors to be on the lookout for potential fraudsters who will be trying to rip them off, he said.

The vast majority of calls for service out of the Summerland detachment continue to be non-criminal, he said.

A large percentage of calls relate to traffic incidents, be it speeding, improper driving in construction zones, possible impaired infractions and other Motor Vehicle Act concerns, he said.

There are also a large number of calls each week relating to checking the wellbeing of local residents, alarms, noise complaints, property complaints and other minor issues, he said.

Deputy Mayor Erin Trainer asked Hall if Summerland officers would be in favour of lowering speed limits in school zones to 30 kilometres per hour 24 hours a day, as has been adopted recently in Penticton.

“I don’t see there being a great advantage to reducing speed zones down to 30 (kilometres) 24 hours a day,” he said. “In Penticton, I don’t know what the rationale was for that and I’m sure they have a very strong and justified rationale. But, having worked many night shifts here in Summerland, I can tell you that after six o’clock, you can roll up and watch some places and you don’t see anybody …  it’s not something I can see any justification for.”

Trainer then asked Hall about a growing problem in Summerland with people stealing from donation bins at various organizations.

“Yes, we are aware of it. Yes, we tend to be aware of who they are and they tend to not be property crime individuals. They tend to be people who are on hard times.”

In some municipalities, stealing from donation boxes and bins is treated as a civil matter, rather than criminal, which complicates the matter, he said.

‘Grey area’

“If a theft charge would be supported again, is a grey area,” he said. “One prosecutor may say yes it is, while somebody else may say no it’s not.”

Trainer asked one final question about whether or not Hall supported a 24-hour policing model, where at least one RCMP officer would be available to answer a service call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“From your point of view, do we have good coverage is what I’m asking,” she said.

“That is a very good question,” said Hall. “I have some strong and personal experience. I’m in my 24th year of police work. I’ve worked in 24-hour towns. I’ve worked in on-call towns. I’ve worked in specialized units and what not.

“Seeing 24-hour policing, would definitely have its advantages. Absolutely. I don’t think there’s anybody that would ever argue against it.

“You would have a police officer available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing coverage and the response would be much quicker and much more viable.”

The current on-call model being deployed in Summerland is working well in his opinion when you consider the staffing shortages he’s facing, he said.

“In my professional opinion, is it’s what we can deliver given the circumstances and the size of the detachment,” he said. “To say anything more, would be much much above my pay grade.”

Over the past couple of weeks, the provincial government announced RCMP officers across British Columbia would all soon be legislated to wear body cameras and Hall said he expects his officers will be wearing them some time in the next few months.

“We are set up in Summerland to be fit up in February … this has been in the process now for a couple of years,” he said. “We should be fit up in February for the detachment to receive the body cameras, chargers and what not.”

Extensive training will then be needed before officers will be using them in their daily police work, he said.

While February is the target date, the reality is this project has just been rolled out and might take a little longer, he said.

“Working for the federal government for a number of years, I know that if they say February, you tend to give them about two to three months leeway. So there could be hiccups, but I would expect to see us having them in here in Summerland by summer.”

Feature image by iStock.com/Mironmax Studio