Crime rate in Merritt drops 20%

Overall criminal code occurrences in Merritt BC appear to be down 20 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, the largest per capita drop within the entire RCMP Southeast District.

Merritt RCMP investigated 145 reported assaults in 2020, compared to 167 assault cases in 2019, a 13% decline. Overall, person’s related violent offences were down by 4%.

Commercial break and enters were also down 4% in 2020. While police saw a 21% decrease in break-ins to homes, having responded to 29 residential break and enters in 2020, compared to 37 during 2019.

Property crime in Merritt reportedly decreased by 30% in 2020, with 841 occurrences during the last calendar year compared to 1,207 reports in 2019.

Weapons and drug trafficking offences rose 16% (26 up to 39) and 290% (11 up to 43) respectively in 2020. A testament to the pro-active enforcement and targeted interdiction being carried out by the Merritt RCMP front line and specialized RCMP support units.

While total calls for policing service in 2020 is down in the city by 478 files compared to 2019, comparatively this is significantly short of the 20% reduction in total criminal code offences.

While it’s too early to say for sure, it’s possible that the reductions seen in the region may be largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw more residents staying home, and led to fewer public gatherings for most of 2020. Although it was the largest drop in the BC southern interior, the reduction in crime observed in the City of Merritt appears to be consistent for many other communities in the region similar in size.

“I’m very pleased with how our front line officers, support units and detachment staff have adapted seamlessly, despite the new challenged posed by a global pandemic, to continue to deliver a high quality of policing service to the community and surrounding areas,” states Staff Sergeant Major Steph Drouin, Merritt RCMP Detachment Commander. “This information is intended to create better awareness and understanding of the incidence of crime in our community, and help enable community engagement and further promote crime prevention.”

The Merritt RCMP is mindful that it is the very early part of 2021, these numbers are subject to change when the Statistics Canada reports are finalized and released later this calendar year, however they believe these to be accurate at this point in time.