Is West Kelowna a hotbed of violent crime?

If you were to believe Macleans Most Dangerous Cities list, yousa国际传媒檇 definitely have cause to consider that possibility.

West Kelowna is ranked 69 of 237 Canadian cities.

Kelowna ranked a much safer sounding 148, which is a significant improvement from last year when the rating was 34.

RELATED: Vernon one of Canadasa国际传媒檚 most dangerous places

Go back six years and Kelowna gained the dubious distinction of ranking as Canadasa国际传媒檚 sixth most dangerous city.

Before you pose for a selfie in some Okanagan branded kevlar, remember these stats come from a hodgepodge of data that includes everything from violent crimes and car break inssa国际传媒攖he latter of which often bumps Okanagan cities way up the list.

What may be more relevant than methodology, however, is how the rankings alter perceptions.

In the U.S., the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose statistics are used in similar articles on their side of the border, said rankings sa国际传媒渓ead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with their residents.sa国际传媒�

You could argue wesa国际传媒檝e already had sa国际传媒渕isleading perceptionssa国际传媒� getting in the way of this communitysa国际传媒檚 growth.

The Central Okanagan has its fair share of social ills. Yousa国际传媒檇 have to be blind to not have noticed the proliferation of shopping carts belonging to people who have no house to call home.

Yousa国际传媒檇 have to be deaf to not know that there are a ghastly number of people dying from drug overdoses.

READ MORE: B.C. overdose deaths drop in June, but 100+ still dying each month

But do these things have anything to do with one another? Do they actually create legitimate cause to fear for your well-being?

We donsa国际传媒檛 think so.

In fact, we think that the erroneous belief that this city is getting more dangerous creates barriers to providing the services needed to help the communitysa国际传媒檚 most vulnerable.

Often, in the run-up to the recent civic election, sa国际传媒渉omelessnesssa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渃rimesa国际传媒� were used interchangeably, when thatsa国际传媒檚 far from the case.

That kind of fearmongering sets a dangerous course for any city.

So letsa国际传媒檚 look past the rankings and look more closely at the communities they describe.

edit@kelownacapnews.com
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