Kamloops city staff indicate that backups in the court system are causing more issues on the street.
Director of community protective services Byron McCorkell points out that because of COVID-19, matters before the courts are being put off and jails are trying to reduce the number of inmates, not add any.
He was asked by council how the city can mitigate concerns.
“We’ve got all our RCMP working hard, our bylaw staff are out. We have new outreach staff walking the streets through funding that we’ve secured through our housing program. We’ve got a committee working on the West Vic side, working and talking with the businesses. We’ve got good neighbor agreements with the housing agreements.”
According to the Kamloops RCMP, there were 73 business break and enters between mid-March and the end of April. That’s compared to 33 in the same six-week period of 2019, which is a 130-per-cent increase.
“The suppressed economic activity is part of it,” mayor Ken Christian says.
“But I think the inaction of the provincial court, in particular, is another part. And I know the chief judge of the BC Provincial Court raised that issue with the Attorney General [Dave Eby] some weeks ago. And I think if we can stumble through having a council meeting and now we’re learning how to do a public hearing electronically, there’s got to be a quicker reaction from the court system.”
Concerns were particularly raised for businesses along the West Victoria Street corridor, an area that has been under siege since before restrictions from the pandemic started to trickle in.
Councillor Bill Sarai spoke passionately for three-and-a-half minutes, speaking directly about businesses on West Vic, although he points out businesses in other areas of town are seeing the same issues.
“There are some businesses that I know of that have got higher security cameras, they actually get notified on their phone at home. There’s one business that basically his whole family said he hasn’t slept in two months, because the thing goes off five times every night. And there’s other businesses there that just have security cameras that just record events, and they come to work every day terrified of what they’re going to find.”
Sarai says crime doesn’t stop at 7 p.m. when business owners go home to spend time with their families, and he says the city needs to do more to look after businesses that pay taxes and contribute to the local economy.
“Somewhere along the way, we have to change with the times. And maybe bylaw has to be 24/7 and eight-hour shifts, three shifts a day,” he says, adding that perhaps the three social housing providers along West Vic, which have a Good Neighbor Agreement with the city, could be forced to hire a security guard to monitor who is coming and going.
“It’s at nighttime when they see the influx of activity, and nobody takes onus of it in the morning. When they come and show the camera, they show the video, everybody says they’re not our people. But they are our people, they’re Kamloops people. Wherever they came from they’re still in our city.”
