A Friday night ridealong with Kelowna RCMP is offering new insight into what police are responding to after dark, and what some say is missing from the picture.
BC Conservative MLA for Kelowna Centre, Kristina Loewen, spent several hours with officers between 7 and 10 p.m., a shift police described as relatively quiet.
While the night did not involve a high volume of calls, Loewen said the ones that did come in were telling.
“We went around to all of the different shelters, and honestly, 90 per cent of the calls that were coming in were to do with, at least it felt like, the unhoused,” she said. “I was really surprised by that.”
The ridealong comes as business owners across Kelowna say crime and public disorder have reached a breaking point.
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Loewen said she was struck by what she described as a disconnect between public concerns and what she observed inside the detachment.
“It’s a stark contrast to see all of the complaints in the community contrasted with the emptiness of the detachment,” she said.
“It’s really upsetting knowing what the neighbourhood is going through and we’re just not detaining people for crime.”
Despite more than a dozen vacant holding cells that night, just one person was in custody.
“The RCMP was making comments like it was shocking we actually had someone in that day, and it’s rare that we keep them,” she said.
A recent report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) suggests many business owners are choosing not to report crime at all, believing police won’t be able to respond in a timely or meaningful way.
Ryan Mitton with the CFIB says those concerns are being echoed directly by business owners and their staff.
“Staff, customers and business owners tell us that they are being threatened by people who are committing these crimes,” Mitton said. “And when they go to police, they’re saying there’s little that can be done to actually enforce the law and press charges.”
Kelowna RCMP, however, continue to encourage businesses to report all incidents of crime, regardless of value or outcome, saying timely reporting supports investigations and helps identify repeat offenders.
Mitton says reassurance and accountability are key to restoring confidence.
“Business owners need to know that when they do report a crime, that police will respond, that charges will be pressed, and that the people who do commit these crimes will be held accountable,” he said.
As many business owners continue to weigh whether reporting crime will lead to real consequences, concerns around enforcement and public safety remain top of mind in Kelowna.
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