Parksville’s latest crime stats have been released.
On Monday, July 20, Sgt. Stephen Rose of the Oceanside RCMP presented to Parksville city council the quarterly report and statistics (see chart, above) for the Parksville Qualicum Beach region.
During his presentation, he provided a comparison of crime statistics for the city, between Jan. 1 to June 30, over the past three years.
The comparison detailed the most common criminal offenses the Oceanside RCMP deal with in their jurisdiction.
READ MORE: Crime stats show spike from 2017 to 2018 in Parksville
His comparison table showed that breaking and entering a residence had increased by four reports since last year, and six since 2019. Assaults were up by two over 2020 and 17 since 2019.
Incidents of theft from a motor vehicle showed the most improvement. In 2019, 210 incidents were reported, followed by only 130 in 2020. This year, only 65 incidents were reported, showing a 69 per cent reduction since 2019.
There was a big jump in provincial traffic offences, with 533 reported, up from 295 in 2020.
Coun. Al Greir asked if the Oceanside RCMP jurisdiction exhibited a ‘revolving door’ situation, where police would deal with the same individuals week in and week out.
“Some of the offenders that we deal with, especially when it comes to areas of property crime… they tend to be the same group of individuals that the police deal with repeatedly,” said Rose. “There are outliers, individuals that happen to pass through the community, commit a crime and carry on. However, yes, certainly we do deal with the same individuals repeatedly.”
