DRUG CRIME RESURGENCE PROMPTS HARD QUESTIONS

A resurgence of drug issues on downtown streets drew some pointed
questions from city council Monday.

During RCMP Superin-tendent Bill McKinnon's monthly crime statistics
report, Coun. Andre Blanleil said he has seen an increase in drug
activity in the downtown core and is hearing feedback from the
business community that there are more problems on the streets, but
doesn't know why.

"Like I've said many times before, there's going to be periods where
we're doing pretty well and periods where we're not," McKinnon told
him, acknowledging he's aware of the issue.

Of particular concern is the area surrounding the now vacant A&B Sound
building on Leon Avenue council heard.

McKinnon promised the downtown enforcement unit is working on the
problem and that officers have made significantly more drug seizures
this month as a result.

As for the rest of the city, the city's top cop said his biggest
concern from October's crime statistics is an apparent rise in theft
over last year's figures. "The one statistic that does concern me is
where we do see a significant rise in the 'theft under' category," he
said.

His figures show 508 incidents of theft under $5,000 recorded for
October 2006, a 10.6 per cent increase over the 459 reports filed for
the same offense in October 2005.

There were also 11 reports of theft over $5,000 this October, compared
to just four during the same month last year.

McKinnon told councillor's he has also put forth a resolution at a
meeting of provincial police chiefs to have the hours of Grant's Law
changed to force gas stations to only accept prepayment for gas.

Named for late gas jockey Grant De Patie who was killed in a gas and
dash crime in Mission, B.C., the law currently imposes a 10 p.m. to 6
a.m. curfew on gas payment forcing gas stations to switch to
prepayment only during those hours.

Of 176 gas-and-dash thefts in the City of Kelowna, however, just 13
occurred during the restricted time frame, McKinnon said.