Cops, bylaw collaborating to target Penticton crime ‘hotspots’ – Penticton News

Photo: Castanet

Penticton RCMP reports positive trends this quarter due to partnership with other public safety organizations.

At a council meeting on Tuesday, Sr. Beth McAndie of the South Okanagan RCMP said collaboration was key to improving trends year over year.

In particular, the focus on “hot spot” crime locations has proven fruitful.

McAndie explained that the RCMP used data to target areas likely to see criminal activity, and sharing it with community public safety partners worked.

“Each month, the front line focused on the hot streets. We have seen a reduction in calls for service in those identified areas. This is a huge win,” McAndie said.

“New in the third quarter was sharing this map with our regulatory team to increase visibility both day and night in the areas of the city most affected by property crime…our frontline teams were able to remain vigilant in addressing to this strategy, spending 188 hours of proactive hours in hotspot locations, supported by our enforcement team with over 1,300 proactive patrols conducted in these areas.”

The RCMP and statutory officers also work together to patrol public spaces where homeless people are sheltering between 7:00 pm and 9:00 am, which is their legal right.

Other highlights, according to the RCMP report, include further success with the Project 529 program aimed at eliminating bike theft and returning bikes to owners, as well as a new partnership with the fire department and regulatory services to focus on the types of fires that are appropriate . for statutory services to be put alone, apparently likely to be associated with homeless housing.

Penticton has also secured $30,000 in funding from the provincial government to re-establish a “Situation Table”, focusing on training front-line agencies in rapid intervention for people with safety concerns.

Photo: RCMP