The following is from the March 29, 2022 City Council meeting.
Statistics need to be considered discriminately. I've observed detachment commanders intently manipulated data to affect the desired report.
ROAD SAFETY
During Quarter 4 of 2021 the Traffic Section consisted of 3 full-time dedicated enforcement officers, and the unit has shifted scheduling to provide adequate traffic enforcement presence.
Question: With shifts, holidays and illnesses, is three Members sufficient to provide road safety to our 100,000 + population?
SERIOUS CRIME UNIT
The report offers detail on numerous crimes with which you may be familiar. Pages 6-8.
MENTAL HEALTH
Year End 2021: 2020 showed a slight reduction in mental health related calls for service, dropping 5% from 2020’s all-time high, but still a 13% increase over 2019 numbers. Car 40 Interventions occurred in 23% of files in 2021 where the Car 40 team was able to assist with in-person assessments, referral to services for clients, or consultation to service providers, RCMP officers, or health care teams.
THE COMPLETE REPORT
https://kamloops.civicweb.net/document/145924/REP_RCMP.pdf?handle=5AD5D7DA08AA45ADBAA54B8F41E8B99E
North Shore Crime Watch Kamloops, British Columbia
April 5, 2022
Letter to the Editor
"So long, Kamloops, and all the horrible people who have made it impossible for me to feel safe in my home."
Editor:
Some time during the night/early morning of April 1 and April 2, someone opened the gate to my yard and cut down and stole all of my spring flowers.
I will not get the opportunity to enjoy them bloom this year.
I have been renting a home on the North Shore for the past three years. My car has been broken into, there have been two burglary attempts at my home while I was sleeping and, on numerous occasions, I have had to chase drug users out of my backyard as they try to set up camp.
But the theft of my spring flowers is the last straw. I am out of here.
So long, Kamloops, and all the horrible people who have made it impossible for me to feel safe in my home.
Tish Adams
Kamloops
Kamloops This Week
This puts many of our concerns into perspective. It would be interesting to know the Logan Lake residents' previous home town.
https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kamloopss-top-cop-blasts-logan-lake-addictions-centre-for-bringing-homeless-people-into-city/it89860
"Meanwhile, 70 of the total 80 beds at VisionQuest Recovery Society facilities are full with people in varying stages of recovery. Twenty people currently in care at the Logan Lake facility are either from Kamloops or were taken there directly from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.
Vision Quest got unwanted attention more than a year ago when City staff investigated claims that its clients were being discharged to local shelters."
In speaking with a staff member of a large local business, I was told that their security guards were not to engage shoplifters. Their presence was as a deterrent only. The staffer was quick to point out that the brazenness of the culprits had grown exponentially and pocket merchandise right in front of staff and walk out. Thousands of dollars lost daily.
"Christian said drug addiction, poverty and mental illness are health issues, not criminal issues. "
I agree with Ken Christian, there are health issues but not at the exclusion of criminality. If a person is so mentally challenged as to not know the difference between right and wrong then they need to be treated. There is current legislation which permits treatment for a person who may be a danger to him/herself and/or the public.
My observation as in any criminal activity, the perpetrators believe they will not face repercussion for their actions. That is what is happening in Kamloops. Criminals go unchallenged and with each incident become more brazen.
The numerous criminals whom I have interviewed, all to a person, said they wouldn't have stopped had they not been caught and punished.
The person in the attached video could have been stopped by a security guard if they were allowed to engage.
https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/local-news/in-wake-of-mcdonalds-closure-downtown-city-says-it-is-working-on-social-issues-5207153