Despite what some residents may think, property crime decreased at the end of the summer in Penticton.
According to the Penticton RCMP’s third quarterly report, 2020 saw a drop of 26 per cent in property crimes compared to 2019.
The RCMP report noted that there had been several arrests of chronic offenders, including known drug dealers, during the three-month period which may have contributed to the decrease.
Violent crime over the same period did go up, by four per cent compared to 2019. That is due to an increase in assault cases, which rose 17 per cent from 126 in 2019 to 147 in 2020.
READ MORE: Penticton RCMP overworked while crime rate, danger to police rises: superintendent
The other three forms of violent crime included in the report were down, with sexual offences, in particular, decreasing by 16 per cent.
Property crime was down across all of the categories in the report, with auto theft and commercial break and enters seeing the largest decrease between 2019 and 2020.
Auto thefts declined from 127 to 47 from 2019 to 2020, and break-ins into businesses went from 76 down to 31, a drop of 63 and 59 per cent respectively.
The year-to-date comparison shows declines in all categories of property crime between 2019 and 2020, with a total drop of 13 per cent over the first three quarters of the year.
READ MORE: Penticton RCMP report ‘great success’ with crime reporting website
The Penticton RCMP detachment also emphasized their priorities in the report, with a focus on identifying and managing prolific drug and property crime offenders.
To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.
<>@PentictonNews
newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.