Kelowna, B.C., business owner David Lea is expressing frustration at ongoing social disorder plaguing the city.
“I’ve never seen it worse,” said Lea, who’s operated a business in Kelowna for 30 years.
Lea owns Toshido Mixed Martial Arts in Rutland, where he says he deals with frequent problems.
“It’s just a constant infestation of feces, crack pipes, syringes, garbage — you know, it’s just, it’s an ongoing concern,” Lea said. “It makes doing business so much harder, so much more expensive.”
Lea said the latest incident happened on Thursday, when a big mess was left in front of his martial arts studio.
“It was a disaster,” Lea said. “My kids class was starting at 4:00. I got here at 3:30 and there was smashed crack pipes everywhere. There’s syringes, garbage. They had a big fire right up on our main entrance.”
On Thursday, the City of Kelowna announced its latest response to the ongoing issues: temporary overnight security patrols.
“We have a private security company under the guidance of the city, who are out patrolling in those overnight hours,” said Darren Caul, the city’s community safety director.
“This private security company is two individuals who are able to patrol the back alleys and and the streets, notify RCMP should there be crimes in progress.”
Frustrated business operators have long called for overnight patrols.
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While many welcome the new measure, some aren’t sure how effective a ‘temporary’ program will be, one that’s expected to be in place for only several months.
“You know, ‘temporary,’ the word always kind of scares me a little bit. But I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Todd Daniels, owner of Gallery Streetwear in downtown Kelowna.
The city will use data from RCMP, bylaw enforcement and the security team to determine where it’s most needed, but Caul said for now, the city is zeroing in on one area.
“For the moment the focus is on the downtown, because this is one of the areas that is where there is an acute need at this time,” Caul said.
Lea said the acute need also exists in Rutland and is calling for the same resources to be deployed there, too.
“We should be getting that kind of attention that the downtown people are getting. It’s that simple,” Lea said.
Caul said it will deploy overnight security to Rutland based on the data it’s regularly reviewing.
“Through that data and that daily exchange of information between security, bylaw services and the RCMP, where those focal points are, we will shift,” Caul said. “And over time, should we see a hot spot emerge elsewhere in the city, we would redeploy that security team to that hot spot.”
Lea said he feels businesses in Rutland are being left behind.
“If they don’t start doing something, we’re going to have to,” Lea said. “And I really don’t think that’s good for anybody, but we’re being left with no other option.”
With data-driven deployment of resources, Caul encouraged residents to always report crime to police.
“It’s really important for citizens to consistently report crimes that come up because if the police don’t know what’s happening, the police can’t go,” Caul said. “So through consistent reporting by the public, that then informs the data that drives deployment.”
The $16,000 monthly program is being funded through the city’s public safety levy.
If effective, it could be expanded.
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