CRIME ON THE RISE

While crime was on the rise in Lake Country in 2004, the number of RCMP
officers working the beat locally dropped.

Speaking at a regular meeting of council last Tuesday evening, RCMP Sgt.
Dwayne Wetteland revealed that criminal code investigations jumped 37.7 per
cent over 2003.

At the same time, he says, the Lake Country detail operated two officers
short, and sometimes three, due to illness and transfers. Therefore, only
five or six officers were left to deal with mountains of paperwork relating
to 1,113 criminal code files.

The increasing workload, admits RCMP Sgt. Dwayne Wetteland, has left his
staff harried and somewhat stressed.

Sgt. Dwaine Wetteland was set to retire this April, but due to a shortage of
RCMP officers province-wide, among other reasons, he plans to stay on the
force for at least another year.

"They are coping as best they can, are they starting to get burn out? Yeah
they are," he says. "The paper work we have to go through in dealing with
just one file is horrendous. We spend a lot of time in the office writing up
files."

So much so, he adds, that the average Lake Country RCMP member spends only
about 25 per cent of their on-the-job time on the road actively trying to
thwart crime. They try to fill out some of the forms in their police
cruisers, but that still eats up significant time, he adds.

Wetteland says the escalating paperwork associated with the sharp rise in
crime has left the local detachment in a bit of a Catch 22; if they don't
push the paper properly their arrests may go uncharged by the Crown; but if
they spend too much time doing paper work they can't stem the tide of
escalating crime rates.

The only way out of the dilemma, says Wetteland, is for the District of Lake
Country to request more man power for policing when it debates its 2005
budget in coming weeks.

"I would like to see them approve three more full time officers so we are
not always trying to play catch-up," he says, adding RCMP guidelines state
there should be at least one officer for every 1,500 residents. "We need an
adequate police force to deal with population growth and to be more visible
in the community."

The local regiment is currently staffed at eight officers, but due to
illness and transfers the District paid for only six full time members in
2004. Even with the desired 11-member detail it is likely that the DLC would
only have about eight or nine active members working on the pay roll at any
one time.

"It's the nature of the business, it seems you always run short at least two
people when you have a 10 person operation," says Wetteland, adding it is
the RCMP which pays for officers who are on sick leave and not the
municipality.

The short staffing situation has also left the detachment having to pick and
choose its priorities when it comes to fighting crime.

For example, in 2004 the RCMP dealt with 42 files relating to marihuana
production, an increase of 50 per cent. Meantime, the total drug files
dropped 13 per cent to 76.

"We are not really concentrating on the guy on the street for possession of
narcotics," says Wetteland. "We have to focus our resources on trying to
catch the guy that's producing the stuff."

Still, he admits that it is the street level user of drugs in the community,
and the transient addicts in the adjacent cities of Kelowna and Vernon, that
probably account for the bulk of criminal code violations in the District.

"Most of the calls that we deal with are drug and alcohol related," he says.
"The theft problem is drug related because these people need money to
support their drug addictions."

Wetteland says that the majority of theft occurs during daylight hours so
that the criminals can parlay their ill-gotten loot into cash, which they
can trade for drugs later that night.

He says the rise in criminal activity is not an anomaly as 2002 and 2003
were also marked by increases. Thus far in 2005 the trend is continuing.

"We haven't compiled the quarterly stats as of yet but just looking at what
has been coming through and how busy we have been I'd say no - it hasn't
slowed down yet," he says.

If council does approve Wetteland's request for a bolstered force, it will
take the RCMP until 2006, at the least, to fulfill the request as recent
graduates are in high demand throughout Canada and because the RCMP academy
is operating at its capacity.

In the meantime, Wetteland is hoping the public will help each other out by
participating in organizations such as Citizens Patrol.

"That group does a lot for this community," he says. "Just their presence on
the street as our eyes and ears helps as a deterrent for a lot of crime."

If the rising crime rate continues in 2005, police will need all the help
they can get.

There were 90 Break and Enters in 2004; a 46 per cent increase over 2003

There were 55 motor vehicle thefts in 2004; a 37 per cent increase over 2003

Theft over $5,000 increased 150 per cent

Theft under $5,000 increased 29.8 per cent

Possession of stolen property increased 39 per cent

Fraud increased 39 per cent

Property crime jumped 39 per cent

Counterfeiting skyrocketed 370 per cent

Disturbance calls rose 92 per cent