By Pete McIntyre

RCMP leader updates council on programs and crime

Feb 10, 2020 | 8:23 PM

Vernon’s top cop says crime will not be reduced if they continue to do things the same way.

Superintendent Shawna Bahr told city council, they have to look at alternate methods to just arresting people and taking them court.

Bahr says the first phase of an opioid pilot project to introduce naloxone into cells trying to get the individuals into treatment is going “quite well” with 40 direct referrals.

“We have to change the ways we are doing things and we have to try and look at alternate methods including the court process,” said Bahr.

Bahr says as soon as people are getting out, they’re going back to their old habits.

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“There has to be a better way of doing this. What we’re doing now currently doesn’t work.”

Mayor Victor Cumming says the opioid pilot project was initiated to help people who are used to using heavy drugs who were coming out of lockup and overdosing because they haven’t had any drugs.

“And they get really really keen on having something, so that’s death prevention, what they’re doing right now with the naloxone. That’s really important. We’ve got to continue to do that. The number of deaths, we want to get those down,” Cumming told Vernon Matters.

Cumming says the second phase of the pilot that will link individuals more directly to medications when they’re in custody so they can seek other therapy, is also positive.

“We just have to get that system worked out where medical personnel come straight into the jails for people who want it.”

Vernon RCMP had over five-thousand calls for service in the final quarter of last year.

“Those can range anything from an abandoned 911 call to an impaired driver, to break and enter, fraud and a sexual assault, but they are captured every time someone calls the police station,” said Superintendent Bahr.

“We had 1505 complaints for criminal code offences where there is a possibility of laying charges to court and we had 949 property offences over this last quarter (October to end of December).”

Bahr told city council 541 charges were forwarded to Crown counsel.

She says street-level offences are the biggest driver of crime in the city.

Bahr says the Crown does take those cases seriously, but new legislation is creating a push so addicts are not always jailed for offences.

“We do have a good relationship with the Crown and a lot of the charges we’re forwarding to court I would suggest the vast majority are being supported, ” said Bahr who estimated 80 to 90 per cent of charges are proceeding.

Bahr says Vernon RCMP has identified 18 prolific offenders, and eight of those are currently not in custody and residing in the community.

by Pete McIntyre

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