Penticton police limiting response to ‘completely preventable’ auto crime

PENTICTON – Penticton RCMP have recited the mantra repeatedly over the past couple of years with respect to locking one’s vehicle and emptying it of valuables to deter theft from vehicles.

A new response to the complaint is in the works following months of efforts to make the message clear, Penticton RCMP Superintendent Ted De Jager says. Officers will no longer respond to a theft from a vehicle after the crime has occurred.

“There were over 700 theft from auto complaints in Penticton alone last year,” De Jager says in an emailed statement. “Theft from a vehicle is completely preventable by locking doors and not leaving anything in your vehicle."

He says the police rationale for no longer responding is because the majority of thefts from vehicles are from unlocked vehicles.

De Jager says police will be appealing with a media release and on social media for a final time to “lock it or lose it.”

“If the message does not get out after that, we will begin this type of differential response,” he says, adding the policy will be no different from any other call for service.

“If (the crime) is in progress, we will respond immediately as a priority one. If it is reported after the fact, it will become a priority four – no response, by a police officer, but the file is recorded."

De Jager notes priority four responses don’t apply to crimes against a person.

“Every file we receive is assigned an appropriate response priority,” he says.

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