A new report says Penticton’s approach to community safety needs an overhaul, due to a lack of support from the BC government, rising homelessness and the current opioid crisis.
Penticton RCMP can’t proactively serve community, local fire crews have been pulled from their primary duties and settlement appeals have increased 243% since 2017, newly elected city council will hear Tuesday, December 20, when the results are presented in a 200-page independent study.
Although six police officers and four new RCMP members have been hired since last year, the report calls for the addition of 32 community safety positions at a cost of more than $5 million.
“Our current situation is untenable,” the city’s general manager of community services Anthony Haddad told reporters at a news conference Friday morning. “For example, if we keep adding RCMP officers but there’s no investment in mental health, we’ll just be in the same place.
The report found that more than 50 percent of calls to the Penticton Fire Department are medical, and RCMP officers responded to a 56 percent increase in mental health calls.
Most medical calls involve responding to overdoses.
A total of 54 community safety recommendations are provided in the report, most of which fall outside the municipal jurisdiction. As a result, Haddad says the city cannot try to fill long-missed provincial service gaps.
“The report is unequivocal that we cannot afford to continue carrying the burden,” he added.
Among the solutions proposed in the report are establishing a mental health crisis team in Penticton, purchasing 10 fire trucks and hiring a director of public safety.
Between 2017 and 2021 in Penticton, there was a 63% increase in violent crime. The BC average for municipalities with RCMP detachments and a population greater than 15,000 is 36%.
The report also revealed whether Penticton residents feel safe in their community. More than 800 people responded to a citywide survey earlier this year, with 62 percent of women feeling unsafe walking around their neighborhood alone and 80 percent feeling uncomfortable shopping alone at night.
In total, the data indicates that 79% of Penticton residents believe crime has increased in recent years. The results point to the commercial section of Main Street and the Lakeshore area among the places where people feel somewhat “unsafe” at night.
To meet the increased demand, the RCMP’s budgeted expenses increased by 43%, regulatory services increased by 350%, and fire resources increased by 43%.
While Haddad says there are “promising signs” that help from the provincial government is on the way, she also adds that the report makes clear that British Columbia hasn’t done enough to help local community safety recovery efforts.
“You can certainly see in this report the lack of provincial investment that has been made in community safety issues that stem from mental health and health issues.
City staff on Tuesday will ask the council to use the report as part of its strategic community safety management plan.
Mayor Julius Bloomfield and the newly elected group will meet at 1pm for the third regular meeting since the October 15 election.
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