Pubdate: Mon, 22 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Ron Seymour

DRUG CRACKDOWN PUSHES OTHER CRIME DOWN, TOO

A police crackdown on drugs has led to a sharp drop in 
break-and-enters and auto theft, Kelowna city council heard Monday.

A zero-tolerance policy on crackhouses, along with increased drug 
enforcement downtown, has been particularly effective in curbing 
drug-related crime, RCMP Supt. Bill McKinnon said.

"That's what's really turned the corner for us," McKinnon said as he 
presented a review of six-month crime stats.

Drug charges soared between April and September by 71 per cent over 
the same period last year, from 1,134 to 1,942 as police stepped up 
their enforcement campaign.

But the crackdown has been accompanied by a 15 per cent drop in auto 
theft, 458 to 389, and a 26 per cent decline in break-ins, from 866 to 644.

People heavily involved in the drug trade often steal cars and use 
them to commit more break-ins, Const. Tim Shields told council.

"The root cause of auto theft is drug addiction," said Shields, who 
showed council the video Stolen Lives, on which he was the executive producer.

It's designed to discourage teens from getting involved in stealing 
cars and the drug trade.

The video includes interviews with relatives of people killed by 
drug-addicts driving stolen cars, the thieves themselves and 
occasionally graphic hospital footage.

The combination of drug use and vehicle theft too often leads to 
"misery, death, heartache and pain," Shields said. The video will be 
shown to all local Grade 10 students this year.

While police say progress is being made at the local level in 
tackling the drug trade and spin-off property crime, they noted a 
sharp rise in assaults.

Between April and September, 1,024 people were assaulted in Kelowna, 
up 28 per cent over the same period in 2006.

McKinnon suggested police would soon begin a renewed effort to reduce 
the number of assaults, but cautioned that would be difficult in part 
because so much of the violence is related to the drug trade, with 
dealers fighting among themselves in turf wars.

"The stabbings, the woundings, they're all drug-related," McKinnon said.

Other crime trends over the past six months, compared to last year include:

- - Spousal assaults were up almost 20 per cent, from 200 to 238. One 
third of all domestic assault cases involved a female offender.

- - Reports of theft under $5,000 in value dropped 13 per cent.

- - Total calls for service went up two per cent and the number of 
prisoners lodged in cells was up one per cent.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom