Cop talk tonight at ISC
A pair of public-input sessions this week will hopefully provide the local RCMP detachment with some information about how to move forward with crime-reduction strategies, according to the city’s top cop.
“We feel that, while there is still crime out there, there’s got to be something we can do better,” Kamloops RCMP Supt. Yves Lacasse said during a meeting Tuesday, March 13, with a group of community stakeholders.
“I think, internally, there is a sense of pride that we have accomplished a lot. But, we need to stop patting ourselves on the back and look at where we’re going.”
The pride Lacasse is referring to stems from the local detachment’s crime-reduction efforts over the last five years, which have seen property-crime numbers fall drastically.
But, according to RCMP statistics, other criminal categories have not experienced the same reduction — and that’s why Lacasse is hosting two public-input sessions this week, one last night and another tonight, hoping to receive suggestions from the public about future policing priorities in Kamloops.
The number of sexual assaults has remained steady over the last three years, with 100 in 2009, 89 in 2010 and 94 last year.
Domestic assaults have risen slightly over the same time, from 710 in 2009 to 821 in 2011.
Those are two areas of concern for local police, Lacasse said.
There have also been significant increases in recent years in drug-offence numbers, but Lacasse said that’s actually a sign of increased enforcement.
According to RCMP stats, there were 321 drug-possession offences in 2009, compared to 625 in 2011 — an increase of 95 per cent.
Trafficking and production offences were also up over the same time period, 52 per cent and 67 per cent respectively.
Lacasse said those numbers would likely be much higher if the detachment had not been focusing in recent years on keeping gangs out of Kamloops.
“Drugs have always been in communities, and drugs will always be in communities, unfortunately,” he said.
“But, we don’t have the big gang problems other cities of our size have. We don’t have the problem Kelowna has.”
Tonight’s public-input session will take place at the Interior Savings Centre’s Parkside Lounge at 7 p.m.
Anyone who was unable to attend, or who wants to submit input to the detachment via email, can do so at kam_strategic_plan_2012@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
Lacasse is slated to meet with City of Kamloops officials later this month to discuss the future of crime-reduction in the city.
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