40 percent of Vernon bylaw files deal with street entrenched

Four of every ten files opened by Vernon Bylaw enforcement over the summer enforcement period were to do with Vernon’s street entrenched population. A total of 292 people generated the activity; some were only dealt with once, others on multiple occasions.

The seasonal program consisted of four officers that provided coverage seven days a week, with shifts starting at 8:00 a.m. to minimize the impact of the street entrenched persons on parks users, business owners and the public.

Bylaw officers cleared temporary shelters out of the structures in Polson Park at the start of their shifts and ensured temporary shelters, erected in other locations throughout the parks, were taken down and packed up by 9:00 a.m. in accordance with the provisions of the Parks and Public Places Bylaw.

A dedicated summer enforcement foot and bike patrol provided frequent patrols of the business improvement areas (BlA) and surrounding parks.

“Seasonal staff attended the prohibited temporary sheltering locations including the Recreation Complex grounds and the Performing Arts Centre daily in the course of their patrols, as well as patrolling the recreation centre and gym in the early evenings.” Darren Lees, Manager Bylaw Compliance, said. “Officers were also tasked with additional patrols of the Recreation Complex grounds and Performing Arts Center due to safety and vandalism concerns from April through September while shelter services were located at the Vernon Curling Club.”

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The summer enforcement program ran from April 27th to November 1st, but was impacted for one month by COVID-19 restrictions.

Seasonal staff responded to calls for service from the public, other City of Vernon departments and calls relayed by the RCMP, in addition to self-generated work. Seasonal program staff investigated 1,568 calls for service over the six month operational period of the program.

During the same period of 2019, officers opened 1,382 dossiers with those involving street entrenched persons amounting to 33 per cent of all files.