Photo: file photo

Penticton is the undisputed property crime capital of the Okanagan, according to a trove of data released this week by Stats Canada.

The Penticton RCMP municipal detachment reported 2,888 incidents of property crime in 2016, which translates to a universal “rate per 100,000 population” of 8,903.

That number is surpassed by just seven detachments in six communities across the entire province: Hope (municipal) 9,523, Duncan 9,767, Langley City 9,973, Hope (rural) 10,260, Quesnel 10,404, Chilliwack 10,779 and Williams Lake 10,884.

For more context, Surrey has a property crime “rate per 100,000” of 6,062. Vernon is the second-closest Okanagan community at 8,100.

South Okanagan Similkameen Regional Detachment Commander Ted De Jager held a town hall earlier this month, taking some heat from residents frustrated by the situation.

The detachment's own numbers released this spring shows the trend continuing, with a significant property crime bump recorded in the first part of 2017.

Penticton’s overall crime severity index — which measures the the volume and severity of individual offences, placing more weight serious crimes — has climbed 35 per cent since 2013.