The number of break and enters and thefts under $5,000 and break and enters have fallen in Kenora over the last couple of months.

Inspector Jeff Duggan says there’s a good reason why.

“Break and Enters are down significantly, 20 down to 6 from the same period last year,” Duggan told the Kenora Police Services Board.

“I’ll attribute that to some of our regular people that are committing these crimes being in custody, or away on treatment options that are provided by the courts.”

On the other hand, thefts over $5,000 have risen substantially, but Duggan says that because people are taking vehicles from family and friends and not returning them.

“You’ll see a 100% increase in Theft Over ($5,000).   A lot of those can be attributed, 7 of the 14, are theft of vehicles.  They are not vehicles that are hot wired and stolen, or they are not vehicles that have the keys stolen.  They’re people borrowing vehicles through friends and family.”

The Kenora OPP crime statistics are from September and October of this year.