There’s more to policing than just nabbing crooks

KELOWNA – While it’s the crime stats that grab the headlines every few months when Kelowna RCMP Supt. Brent Mundle reports to City Council, police do a lot more than just ticketing speeders and busting thieves.

As just one example, they work with the John Howard Society on something called the STOP program that helps get counselling for men involved in domestic violence.

“STOP incorporates free counselling for men who use violence or controlling behaviours in their relationships and supports those with or without criminal charges,” states Mundle’s report. “The project is an independent, community focused and offender-oriented program with voluntary enrolment by participants.”

The Police and Crisis Team (PACT) is a partnership with Interior Health that processed 417 referrals from June to September. It took 22 people to hospital for medical attention and diverted 54 people from hospital to other support services.

The HUB model is being organized for 2019, as recommended in former Kelowna RCMP Supt. Bill McKinnon’s recent report to council on crime and homelessness. That will involve weekly meetings between the police, Interior Health, School District 23, BC Housing, Probation Canada and the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

The program aims to “help triage individuals presenting high risk of crisis in the community” and to “connect them immediately with support services so they can access the help they need,” the report states.

Stakeholders will be meeting in January with training sessions scheduled for February before the program is implemented.

Cops for Kids raised $440,000 through its Cops for Kids Bike Ride and hosting the RCMP Musical Ride.

Of course, the force also tries to prevent crimes and catch criminals. Some of their recent activities include a focus on bicycle thefts, car thefts and drugs.

In the three months from June to September, 339 bikes were reported stolen, up from 204 in the same period in 2017.

Police held seven events encouraging people to register their bikes through Project 529 Garage. More than 3,000 bikes are now registered and 25 were recovered and returned to their owners.

Between May and October, 120 drug charges were filed against 73 people.

A program that uses bait cars and automatic licence plate readers recovered 10 stolen vehicles and led to the arrests of 11 people in July.

So far this year, 1,548 hours were spent policing special events.

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