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By Joe Fries
If the theft of a personal watercraft from a downtown marina was the most serious case Kelowna RCMP dealt with on Canada Day, the city can be pretty pleased with itself.
From a policing standpoint, this year’s midweek holiday was neither better nor worse than in recent past years, RCMP Supt. Bill McKinnon said Thursday.
All told, 43 people visited city cells, while officers dealt with 136 files during the day. By comparison, police took in 49 prisoners last weekend.
McKinnon figures that Canada Day falling on a Wednesday meant fewer visitors from out of town, although locals were out in full force, particularly a “large number” of intoxicated teens.
Despite a plea from police earlier this week that parents not drop their kids off at The Sails, the location still proved troublesome.
“That’s always the biggest problem for us, the gathering right after the fireworks at The Sails,” McKinnon said. “That seems to be the point where everyone wants to congregate and hang out.”
The city’s top cop was reluctant to say how many officers were on duty for the holiday, but suffice to say, “We had a lot of people in yesterday.”
And the ranks of the regular officers were bolstered by 11 auxiliary members, who teamed up with full-timers on patrols.
Kelowna has 65 auxiliary members, McKinnon said, but, “You’ve got to remember, most of these people have jobs and they’ll be back at their jobs this morning.”
Finally, police are now looking for a stolen personal watercraft and its driver. McKinnon said a man jumped on the machine at the Kelowna Marina around 10 p.m. and roared off dangerously into the night.
“No lifejacket, intoxicated. It’s a recipe for bad things.”
joe@kelowna.com/(250) 575-4303
Tags: canada day, Crime, mckinnon, RCMP, sails
