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Year-end crime report presented to Hope Council

The Hope RCMP presented their year-end report to council, last week, bringing to light many accomplishments and challenges ahead.
March102011 - 03.indd
Crime statistics provided by the Hope/Boston Bar RCMP.

The Hope RCMP presented their year-end report to council, last week, bringing to light many accomplishments and challenges ahead.

We have had numerous wire thefts and thefts from vehicle in the rural areas, Staff Sergeant Dale Kjemhus told the Hope Standard, and are purchasing trail cameras that “we will be using … in these areas as required depending on the incidents occurring.”

In some of these high crime areas local police have signs posted notifying the public and warning would-be thieves of the video surveillance.

Kjemhus, who is retiring in June, reminded the public to “always call in crimes” to the Hope detachment. “If we don’t know about them, we absolutely cannot do anything.”

In a new policing era of information and intelligence-lead investigations police use crime reports to identify hot spots in the community.

“I don’t wish to give the areas that we consider hot spots as this would warn the offenders as to what areas we are concentrating on.... suffice it to be known that we will be targeting specific areas depending on the increase in crime in the area....

And according to police intelligence-based policing has paid off with crime stats in almost all areas “down.”

“The only area that was significantly up in both Hope and Boston Bar were thefts.... which we are targeting,” Kjemhus, told the Hope Standard.

The prolific-offender program is yet another successful crime initiative new to Hope.

This year the program started with nine males and three females identified as chronic offenders.

Officers “do curfew checks regularly and request curfew conditions of the prolific offenders charged,” said Kjemhus in his report. Dubbed the prolific offender’s ‘handler’, an officer also “encourages behavioral changes in their prolific offender”, as well as “making constant efforts to breach those not abiding” by court orders, added Kjemhus.

“We currently have a total of 14 prolific offenders. Three have curfew conditions. Two are incarcerated for an extended period of time. One has an outstanding warrant and is believed to be out of province. Two have moved out of Hope recently,” added Kjemhus.

In combating vehicle theft and vehicle break-ins in the Boston Bar and Hope region, police bait cars are regularly parked on the streets awaiting an unsuspecting thief.

RCMP have not yet announced who will be replacing Staff Sergeant Dale Kjemhus when he retires.