RCMP to seek more members

J.p. Squire 2009-10-08 Kelowna Daily Courier:

Kelowna RCMP Supt. Bill McKinnon will ask city council for more members during 2010 budget discussions this fall. McKinnon revealed his plans Wednesday during a press conference called to discuss violent crime statistics included in a Vital Signs report issued on Tuesday by the Community Foundations of Canada. “We need extra policemen to do the job,” McKinnon told reporters. “Our calls for service, our Criminal Code workload per member, are very high. “It‘s trying to find additional resources to take on that task as well as respond to all the calls for service that we have on a daily basis.” He declined to say how many new members he‘ll request.

“I‘ve always said we need to grow as the community grows. It‘s as simple as that really.” The 141 members at the Kelowna detachment fielded 69,500 calls for service last year. The number of calls per member is among the top 10 per cent of B.C. departments. Although he didn‘t single out summer vacationers, the season does have an impact. From the May long weekend to Labour Day, the traditional tourist season, the detachment typically receives 1,000 calls for service during the weekend. The Vital Signs report tallied violent crime statistics for 16 communities across Canada. Kelowna had 1,532 incidents per 100,000 population in 2008. Saint John, N.B., was second at 1,463. Guelph, Ottawa and Kitchener in Ontario had the lowest rates at less than 600. The Canadian average was 932 incidents of homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual offences, abduction and robbery per 100,000.

“I always question some reports because, in my opinion, the statistics are somewhat skewed, particularly when it comes to Kelowna,” said McKinnon. “What the statistics don‘t say is that we have somewhere between 1.2 million and 1.5 million tourists annually. “Certainly the numbers are a concern to me. But I don‘t think they are as bad as what that report leads people to believe.” The detachment has a number of crime-reduction strategies, such as ongoing meetings with nightclubs to reduce problems and bicycle and Gator patrols in public parks. Policing has changed, McKinnon said. “The amount of paperwork that is involved, the amount of preparation that goes into preparing complex cases for court is very, very time consuming and takes a lot of additional resources,” he said. “There‘s hardly a night that goes by when we don‘t have a member sitting at KGH in the emergency room with one of our prisoners.” The detachment also deals with addicts time after time. “I just reviewed a report where we dealt with the same person 26 times in a four-month period. That‘s very frustrating for the members and everybody else, and it ties up members from doing valuable work,” he said.