Revelstoke COVID-19 ‘plate hate’ vandalism incidents: What does available data show?

Is ‘plate hate’ a thing in Revelstoke?

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the first narratives to spread around town and beyond Revelstoke city boundaries was that vehicles with out-of-province plates were being vandalized, presumably for breaking COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Early on in March and April, governments sought to limit inter-provincial travel, issuing this plea for residents not to travel on the Easter weekend, for example.

Since then, COVID-19 travel restrictions between provinces have been eased, and this summer inter-provincial travel has resumed in full force, with downtown Revelstoke and Revelstoke Mountain Resort busy with visitors each day.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been stories in Revelstoke about vandalism incidents against vehicles with out-of-province plates, usually originating with a social media post about one particular incident. The Review covered this story about a vandalism incident and this one about someone else leaving kind messages on vehicles with out of province plates. Those last two stories were picked up by the CBC, perhaps creating an impression that the number of incidents are a bigger thing than they are?

Until recently, incidents continue to pop up on social media.

We wondered: how often is this happening? Is it common, or just a few incidents? Is it out of the ordinary? What data is available to shed light on the situation?

So, we reached out to the Revelstoke RCMP for some data. The local detachment said incidents involving vandalism to vehicles are classified as mischief to vehicles.

What the data showed

We asked for data on all incidents involving mischief to vehicles in the first six months of the year, starting from 2016 and including 2020.

Here’s what the RCMP records indicate for incidents of mischief to vehicles:

2016: 4 incidents involving B.C. plates

2017: 1 incident involving B.C. plates

2018: 1 incident involving B.C. plates

2019: 2 incidents involving B.C. plates, 1 incident involving out-of-province plates

2020: 3 incidents involving B.C. plates, 3 incidents involving out-of-province plates

In addition, as of last week, there have been four incidents of vandalism to vehicles in the second half of the year. One each on July 2, July 24, July 27 and Aug. 2. We don’t have comparable stats for the second half of the year in previous years.

In this image from mid-June, a vehicle parked in the Southside neighbourhood displays a sign saying the owners are essential workers here. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine

Sergent Chris Dodds, the Acting Detachment Commander in Revelstoke, said that Revelstoke RCMP say the incidents are suspicious, but it’s hard to draw conclusions.

“Of the 2020 stats, the three reported out-of-province incidents were certainly suspicious but we have no direct evidence to support at this time that they were linked to the current pandemic,” Dodds said. “No culprit has been identified or charged. Of course, I can’t comment on rumoured incidents that were not reported or investigated by us.”

Staff-Sgt. Thomas Blakney said there have been no arrests on the incidents, but that police were investigating some, including reviewing CCTV footage. They ask anyone with information to contact police, or Crimestoppers, where there is a cash reward for information.

Blakney said that incidents like these are often linked to thefts from vehicles, such as someone breaking into an unlocked car to scrounge for change or other valuables, adding these types of incidents can involve groups of people, or perpetrators who may go on to brag about what they’ve done.

“Generally, they will let other people know or are travelling in a group,” he said. He encouraged residents to come forward with information.

The data provided by police may not be complete. All incidents may not get reported to police, such as a visitor to the province who simply returns home and reports it to their insurance provider.

The conclusion?

For comparison’s sake, there seems to be an uptick in incidents, but the overall number of incidents is not that much higher than previous years. It’s doubled from three to six in the same comparison period since last year. Incidents are way up from 2017 and 2018 when there were only one comparable incident in the first half of the year.

However, in the first half of 2020, half of the incidents were against B.C. plates, half against out-of-province plates. There was a note in once instance described above, but are the others directly connected to the plates?

But with three incidents total against out of province plates in the first half of the year, it would be a stretch to describe it as a big trend.

One of the characteristics of crime in Revelstoke, a small town, is that one person or small group can be responsible for spikes in crime. For example, with snowmobile thefts or break and enters to residences, Revelstoke can go months with no incidents, then suddenly there are several, all because of one person or small group leading a crime spree.

For their part, Revelstoke RCMP reminded residents that many Revelstokians have vehicles with plates from out of province. “Everyone should be mindful that people travel or visit BC for a number of reasons and no one should assume anything about another person’s circumstances or reason for travel,” Sgt. Dodds said in an email. “Further to this, there are local residents that may, for one reason or another, have vehicles registered in other provinces or countries but do in fact live in our area. As always, if there is an issue or a crime has been committed we urge residents and or visitors to call the police to report as soon as possible.”

What do you think? Have you been the victim of a vandalism incident? Do you have more to contribute on this story? We encourage you to comment directly on this story on our website.