The City of Kamloops is expecting a hiring blitz as Community Services Officers are expected to begin working around the clock before the end of this week.

Community Services Manager Will Beatty says there are currently about 28 full-time equivalent positions working in the CSO department, with room to add about six more FTEs.

“We continue to try and recruit. There will likely be a recruitment blitz coming in the coming weeks for additional officers,” Beatty said. “We’re getting to a staffing capacity which we’re able to deliver extended service as council has committed to many years ago.”

But Beatty also says it will take time to “holistically” staff up the department and understand what the impacts will be when CSOs are on shift 24 hours a day instead of the currently 16 hours. That change takes effect on July 26.

“It lets us get into that proactive patrol piece a lot. Right now we are very reactive to calls for service,” Beatty added.

“You’re not going to get follow up phone calls from officers at 3 in the morning as they’re attending. You’ll likely receive those follow ups at a more appropriate time. But we’ll have the ability to actually respond to those calls as they come in.”

Beatty says the Kamloops CSO department will not be operating like an emergency service, meaning people should still call 911 if they need police, firefighters or paramedics to respond.

“We’re really trying to get that out to the public to have that understanding that we’re a compliance and enforcement division for municipal bylaws,” he said. “We are not an emergency service and will not attend immediately. If that is needed, call the appropriate agency.”

The move will also reduce the need for contracted overnight security guards, who had been tasked with nighttime patrols between midnight and 8 a.m. – though it won’t eliminate the need for it, if the situation requires it.

“Once we go 24 hours as the community services officers are hired into these positions, the supplementing in the evening will decrease in this contract because of the fact that community service officers are now on the road,” Beatty said.

“RCMP members would attend calls and if there was some sort of additional capacity needed for traffic control or to watch over something, the primary responsibility is for our CSOs who would then utilize the contractors should it need that surge capacity that we can’t complement [through things like overtime callouts].”

The City of Kamloops intended to expand CSO coverage when it restructured the former bylaws department in 2020, a move that led to pushback from CUPE Local 900.

But with those issues now resolved, Beatty says the City is also working towards getting Peace Officer status for its CSOs.

It’s not clear when the transition to peace officers will be complete, as Beatty says the provincial framework they’ll be operating under is still unclear. But when that does happen, Kamloops CSOs will be able to enforce some provincial regulations like speeding, similar to how peace officers in Alberta are able to.

Work to expand the role of CSOs began in May of last year – a move that Kamloops RCMP Superintendent Jeff Pelley is on board with.