CIVIC ELECTION COVERAGE
CIVIC ELECTION • OCT. 15, 2022
KTW begins its series of mayoral candidate profiles in today’s edition. First up is Arjun Singh. The profiles will continue in subsequent editions of KTW PAGE A5
CIVIC ELECTION • OCT. 15, 2022
kamloopsthisweek.com | kamloopsthisweek |
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 | Volume 35 No. 36
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MICHAEL POTESTIO/KTW
Stats show crime is up, charges are down
INCIDENTS per 100,000 people (All crime) 15,000
MICHAEL POTESTIO
STAFF REPORTER
michael@kamloopsthisweek.com
10,000
5,000
0
2017 B.C.
2018
2019
Kamloops
2020
2021
Kelowna
Reported crime in Kamloops is up, but the number of people being charged is down, according to data released from the 2021 census. Statistics Canada recently released its latest police numbers and the results show that last year, total crime in Kamloops — excluding traffic offences — were at a five-year high of 13,379 incidents, while the number of people charged — 778 — hit a five-year low. The 13,379 crime files in Kamloops is an increase from 12,515 in 2020, 11,997 in 2019,
10,157 in 2018 and 10,614 in 2017. The number of charges from those files has trended down: 778 in 2021, compared to 934 in 2020, 1,307 in 2019, 1,383 in 2018 and 1,410 in 2017. Kamloops’ crime rate per 100,000 population — which is about the population of the city — is at its highest in the last five years, at a rate of 13,168. That is above the provincial average and it has sat above that threshold for the past five years. By comparison, the crime rate across B.C., excluding traffic offences, per 100,000 population in 2021 was 7,486. That rate is down from a five-year
high for the province in 2018 of 8,632. In neighbouring Kelowna — which has a population of more than 140,000 in the last census — that rate is 13,489 per 100,000 population for 2021, which is also a five-year high. The number of people charged in Kamloops is also at a lower rate than the province and Kelowna. Kamloops last year saw 803 files per 100,000 people ages 12 years and over cleared by charge, a rate cut in half from 2017’s 1,652 and below the provincial average of 919 in 2021. It’s also less than Kelowna’s 940 per 100,000. See PROPERTY, A10
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Aurthorized by David Deol ddeol@telus.net