Drivers are continuing to speed up or imbibe while hitting the road in Sicamous, with driving infractions accounting for the majority of calls local RCMP respond to.
In his quarterly report to council at the July 23 Committee of the Whole meeting, Sgt. Murray McNeil said 216 tickets and warnings were issued and, while slightly down from 248 last year, still exceeded the goal of 10 stats per member per month.
They have, however, seen a significant increase in impaired drivers and excessive speeding in recent years.
鈥淚mpaireds, we still see an uptick in that... we had 25 in the quarter, which is really high. You see 15 in the month of May alone, which is significant,鈥� he said, adding there were just 16 for the same quarter in 2024, and 12 the previous year. 鈥淭hose numbers are pretty high compared to what they had been in previous years, so doing more enforcement in that area to try to keep the roads safe.鈥�
McNeil added that excessive speeding continues to be a growing problem, with 40 incidents this quarter compared to just eight last year. He said highway patrol and Sicamous members find in the evenings that speeds get quite elevated in Malakwa and they鈥檙e getting 鈥渟ome super sonic speeds out there.鈥�
In going through other incidents the detachment has responded to, McNeil said the theft of vehicles files included a "couple of odd ones, not typical." That included a 1993 pickup with no real value stolen from Maier Road and recovered by 91大黄鸭 RCMP where it had been abandoned.
鈥淎nd then this one, we鈥檝e never had this before. A golf cart was taken from the Eagle River Golf Course, not recovered," he said. "They鈥檝e been there for years and years and never experienced that before.鈥�
McNeil also mentioned a June 6 incident in which an officer noticed a stolen vehicle in the 7-11 parking lot that he attempted to stop. The driver rammed the police vehicle before fleeing down Highway 97A where multiple units eventually stopped the vehicle and arrested the two occupants.
Eric Lemke of Rocky Mountain House, Alta. was charged with numerous offences 鈥� assaulting a police officer, flight from police and danger operation of a vehicle 鈥� and held in custody for a while before being released by the courts.
鈥淚 can tell you that he was arrested again in 91大黄鸭 for being in another vehicle doing similar things this past weekend,鈥� McNeil reported.
Situations with re-offenders like that being free to strike again has long been a bone of contention with Sicamous council, though they acknowledged the problem lies with the legal system rather than the RCMP.
鈥淚t鈥檚 super sad that we live in a catch-and-release system, and that we have a legal system now instead of a justice system," Mayor Colleen Anderson said. "This council is quite aware of that, so we are moving forward with a resolution going to UBCM [Union of B.C. Municipalities] regarding that, and we鈥檒l continue to advocate for a better justice system.鈥�
On a lighter note, McNeil added the department has been influenced by the Communities in Bloom committee and have spruced up the detachment yard.
鈥淲e picked up our game at the detachment. We鈥檝e got the lilies going, we have the roses going, we got new mulch down... we鈥檝e got the building all cleaned up," he said. "I need a new flag, but other than that it鈥檚 looking pretty 10 out of 10."
Having worked with committee chair Deb Heap for years, Anderson acknowledged with a laugh that "Deb rubs off on everyone in the community."
