Drug trade continues to drive property crime

NEWS — The drug trade continues to drive property crime in Kamloops and you might be the victim of theft from your car or home because of it.

That’s one of the conclusions in the just-released annual report of the Kamloops & District Crime Stoppers.

Theft from vehicles tops the list of crime reported to police and will be a focus of Crime Stoppers in the coming year, says the report compiled by program coordinator Mark Price.

The organization says theft from vehicles and residential and commercial break-ins continue to be a concern.

“This continues to cause great hardships to the public but also ties up valuable police resources,” the report says, which adds that the public needs to be encouraged to remove valuables from vehicles and be aware they can report thefts to the Crime Stoppers TIP line for action by police without fear of retaliation.

Residential and commercial break-ins go beyond loss of valuables, said Price in the report.

“The public feel violated when their home or business has been broken into. The home owner (more often) does not feel safe in their own home after someone has broken into the home.”

Sometimes people are more comfortable providing information by contacting Crime Stoppers so they can remain anonymous and not have to give a statement or go to court, says the report.

A lot of property crime is driven by the drug trade, the report says.

“Plain and simple, the daily drug habit can cost hundreds of dollars a day. The recreational user or occasional use still needs money to support their habit.”

Most drug users are unemployed, the report says, so the main source of income is to sell drugs or steal.

“Crime Stoppers is about helping to stop the flow of illegal substances and increasing the arrest rate of the criminals providing those drugs.”

There’s good news in the report, too. Kamloops has not experienced the level of gang violence that the Lower Mainland has experienced, it says, though there have been several gang-related deaths in recent years.