Skip to content

Violent crime surges in Naramata

The 3 murders and 1 shooting in Naramata aren’t part of newly released RCMP stats
27222515_web1_RCMP-Stock-McLachlanP-Oct.2020-PGM_2680
Kelowna RCMP. (Phil McLachlan/Capital News file)

Violent crime surged in 2021 in Kaleden and Naramata, according to the latest RCMP quarterly report.

The reports to the RDOS show that Naramata saw an overall increase of 40 per cent for violent crimes overall, while Kaleden doubled the number of violent cases for the third quarter of 2021.

For the year-to-date, from January to September, Naramata’s violent crimes are up 35 per cent while Kaleden is up 38 per cent.

The statistics do not list murders under the categories of violent crimes, however the number of assault cases doubled for July to September, from two to four, adding to the year’s total of seven so far. In 2020 there were three assault cases as of this time of year in Naramata.

This year was notable of course for the three murders in Naramata, beginning with the Fryer brothers and followed by the killing of Naramata resident Kathy Richardson.

READ MORE: Son of Naramata murder victim charged with Fryer brothers killings

Also not in the violent crime statistics would be the Oct. 26 shooting in Naramata.

READ MORE: Man, 36, shot in drug-related shooting

The number of cases of uttering threats dropped from three to zero for the first three quarters of the year, while sex offences dropped from two to one, and the number of domestic violence cases stayed the same at two.

Non-violent crimes dropped overall in Naramata by 43 per cent for the quarter and by 35 per cent over the whole year, with drops across most of the categories for the quarter.

The exception was break and enters, of which there was one for a business and one for a residence in 2021, compared to zero in July to September of 2020.

A similar story played out in Kaleden, where assaults drove an increase to the overall violent crime cases, going from one case in 2020’s third quarter to three in 2021 and bringing the year-to-date numbers from two in 2020 to five in 2021.

Sex offences dropped from one to zero, while uttering threats also dropped from one to zero for the quarter. So far Kaleden has gone the year without a sexual offence case, down from the one in 2020.

Domestic assaults did rise, with one recorded between July and September 2021.

Property crime for the quarter did rise compared to 2020 by six per cent overall, driving by an increase in mischief cases from three to four, theft from vehicles from five to six, and fraud and auto thefts which both saw one case compared to zero over the same period in 2020.

The year as a whole shows a brighter picture, with property crime down 14 per cent overall, thanks to drops in bicycle thefts from three to one for the year so far, thefts from vehicles from 13 to eight and other thefts from six to three.

Residential break and enters and fraud are both the largest increases for January to September so far percentage-wise, rising from one to three break-ins and from three to six fraud cases from 2020 to 2021.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

<>

@PentictonNews
newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
Read more