It was a packed house at the Rutland Centennial Hall in Kelowna, B.C., Wednesday evening where Conservative MLA Gavin Dew hosted a town hall on crime and social disorder.
“In the last number of months, there has been a lot of conversation about what’s happening downtown and there were a number of events happening there,” Dew told the crowd of roughly 200 people.
“One of the reasons why we’re here tonight is that there were a lot of good folks at those downtown events…and one of the things they said to me is we wanted to make sure Rutland is not forgotten.”
Cedric Anderson was one the attendees.
He voiced concerns about rising crime in an area he’s lived in his entire life.
“Businesses getting broken into, homes being broken into,” Anderson said as he described some of his concerns. “I was attacked a couple months ago myself.”
Last fall, Anderson said, he confronted a man who broke into a fenced area on his property and was bear-sprayed.
“As he was leaving, he said something under his breath and caused me to look and at that point he bear-sprayed me,” Anderson told Global News.
In response to the growing social disorder, particularly downtown, the City of Kelowna implemented its Business Safety Action plan.
On Monday, city staff updated council on the initiatives, some of which include enhanced RCMP and bylaw patrols.
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Darren Caul, the city’s public safety director, told council the enhanced patrols are in place five days a week downtown but only twice a week in Rutland.
“Bylaw is currently in Rutland doing those patrols Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons,” Caul said on Monday.
The difference in patrol frequency between downtown and Rutland, which continues to be a hotspot for crime, isn’t sitting well with residents.
“I do feel that Rutland is treated like the redheaded stepchild. We do get left behind,” said Anderson. “We do get a lot of issues dumped on us as a community, and I don’t think it’s fair.”
Carley Cherney is a mother of two young children.
She said Rutland, with so many families, should have equal resources.
“I feel relatively unsafe. I want more patrols here. We’re just as important as downtown,” she told Global News.
“They’re tending to the businesses but what about the families? What about the kids?”
Caul said the city is well aware of the issues in Rutland and has numerous resources in place for that part of the city.
“We are very attentive to what is happening for Rutland residents,” Caul said.
Caul said despite finite resources, the city re-deploys them based on greatest needs.
He added that the city takes a tailored approach to different areas of town and pointed to one program unique to Rutland.
“Rutland has the only dedicated business and community liaison that exists in the city,” Caul said. “In fact, that is a model that we started in Rutland last year and it’s working so well, we’re looking to replicate that for downtown and Midtown.”
Caul said that two more bylaw officers are being added in Rutland this spring.
In the meantime, Anderson is urging residents and business operators to report all crime, no matter how minor, hoping it spurs change for the better.
“If you go undocumented, it won’t happen and it won’t change,” Anderson said.
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