DRUGS CHANGING THE CRIME FACE OF KELOWNA

Kelowna RCMP superintendent Bill McKinnon brought a message to the
local business community Wednesday of the need for both greater
cooperation and more police officers to deal with the increasing
amount of crime in Kelowna.

McKinnon laid out a fairly dire message of increasing city crime to
the monthly Chamber of Commerce luncheon--telling the business
community that police can properly deal with escalating drugs,
violence and auto theft if they get more officers.

"In order for me to make Kelowna safer we need more officers," said
McKinnon.

"I've submitted a proposal and I believe our requests are not outrageous.

"I'm encouraged by our preliminary discussions about the additional
resources."

Currently the Kelowna detachment has 170 members. Of that total, the
expense for 115 is funded by the City of Kelowna,eight by the District
of Lake Country, and the remaining 47 by provincial government funding.

McKinnon said the Kelowna detachment is the third busiest in the
province, receiving 70,000 calls for service so far this year, a
20,000 increase from five years ago.

McKinnon told business leaders that nearly every facet of crime is up
in Kelowna from a year ago.

Violent crime is up three per cent; property offenses have increased
13 per cent; weapons offenses are up 15 per cent, he said.

But it is the drug trade that has increased the most.

According to McKinnon drug related crime is up 42 per cent across the
board.

Cocaine and cocaine trafficking offenses have increased 148 per cent
while heroin seizures have increased 280 per cent from a year ago.

The increase in drug crime revolves around what McKinnon called the
criminally transient.

"Policing downtown has been burdened by our growing homeless
situation," McKinnon said.

"There are two groups; the truly homeless and the criminally
transient. The criminally transient has grown from 75 to about 150 and
all are involved in crime to buy drugs to feed their addiction."

McKinnon also said Kelowna is included among a greater infiltration in
general across B.C. by organized crime organizations and not just the
traditional ones like the Hells Angels.

He said sophisticated crime organizations from southeast Asia and
other parts of the world also see this province as a lucrative way to
fund their organizations.

"We're running into a situation where a significant part of our
economy is based on illegal activities," he said.

"These groups use marijuana grow operations to fund other criminal
activities."

On a positive note, McKinnon said the Kelowna detachment is seen as
one of the most proactive in the country. Many of its programs--like
the school liaison officer initiative--are being replicated in other
detachments.

"I really think we're leading the pack," he said.

McKinnon took over as the Kelowna superintendent in May of this year.