Property crime in the South Okanagan is up 10 per cent over the same time last year, according to stats from local RCMP.

Superintendent Ted De Jager said the increase is a part of a similar trend across the province, but noted that violent crime has fallen three per cent.

“From a policing perspective, if we look at some of the events that have been going on in the southeast division such as the shootings in Kamloops last week, those are things we really have to target, that violent crime,” he said.

A large spike in break and enter to outbuildings and sheds has been registered across the region with De Jager calling it an area of “focus” for them.

The region is also experiencing a 19 per cent increase in auto theft.

“Auto theft is one of those crimes where they are entirely preventable, be it through an ignition cut off device or a physical barrier of putting a car in a garage,” De Jager said, noting an insurance deductible alone would pay for an immobilizer.

Source: Photo by ODN, files from Castanet