As businesses in Kelowna, B.C.’s downtown core reach their breaking point, the RCMP is breaking its silence on mounting crime concerns.
“I acknowledge it has taken a few days for us to speak publicly. That delay was intentional,” said Kelowna RCMP Supt. Chris Goebel.
“When public safety and public confidence are at stake, it’s important that we speak based on complete and accurate information.”
Goebel made the comments at a news conference at the RCMP detachment on Tuesday in the wake of a growing number of business owners coming forward and highlighting the escalating challenges they are dealing with.
Despite data saying otherwise, business owners say break and enters, thefts and property crime are through the roof and that they fear their safety, and that of their staff and customers, is compromised.
“Police statistics are based on reported crimes,” Goebel said. “What we can say clearly is this: reported break and enters are down compared to the same period last year, at the same time social disorder is up and that distinction matters.”
Goebel acknowledged that safety is not based on data.
“People don’t experience safety as a statistic,” Goebel said. “They experience it as broken windows, fires, repeated disrupted behaviour and a growing sense that unacceptable conduct is being normalized.”
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City officials were also on hand at the news conference, where an action plan was outlined.
“We are listening, we are acting and we are very committed to ensure the city is safe,” said Darren Caul, community safety director for the City of Kelowna.
Some of the immediate measures being implemented include an enhanced city bylaw and police presence to help reduce crime and social disorder.
That includes increased RCMP foot and vehicle patrols.
While police won’t elaborate on how many more officers will be patrolling the streets, Goebel said their increased presence will be noticeable.
Caul said the city is also boosting funding for the Downtown Kelowna Association’s ‘Red Shirt’ volunteer program, which provides front-line security and deals with lower-priority calls to RCMP and bylaw enforcement.
Caul added the city has also started to engage directly with businesses in a new initiative the city is calling ‘Knock and Talk’.
“Knocking on their doors and listening to their concerns, sharing resources and working together on issue that matter to them now,” Caul said when describing the new initiative.
The new measures come as a relief to Wendy Munyanyi, who owns the shop Mary-Claris Hair Extensions and Beauty.
“I think if we have more presence on the street, it will really, really help,” Munyanyi told Global News.
She, like so many of her counterparts, has had to install bards to protect her shop in the wake of repeated break and enters and thefts.
In one case, suspects made off with more than $30,000 in hair extensions.
“They came with bags, like bags and took it,” Munyanyi said.
But with addictions a big part of the problem, the new measures announced may only go so far.
“We recognize that we are part of the solution as enforcement, however, there’s a significant gap at the moment,” Goebel said. “There’s insufficient treatment options for people.”
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