Downtown plagued by drug use, public drinking, says head of DPA
Businesses ‘under siege,’ Ryan Graham tells city council
Downtown businesses are calling on the RCMP to “take back our downtown.” Downtown Penticton Association president Ryan Graham, manager of Clancy’s Liquor Store, presented the concerns of downtown business owners at Tuesday’s city council committee of the whole meeting, saying businesses downtown are “all under siege.”
“We have daily drug users coming in and using the washrooms as injection sites. This is a battle that we are all losing,” Graham said. “The RCMP is always quoted as ‘call us, report it.’ The problem with that is the current, extended-period wait times or, in all honesty, the no-shows when these calls are made.”
Graham also pointed to open-alcohol problems downtown, with drinking from 9 a.m. to sundown now the norm, he said, along with intoxicated individuals and bootlegging for youth.
“We’re asking today to hit the refresh. Our local RCMP, our bylaw, city council and staff — this needs to be a joint effort,” Graham said.
Graham said the amount of used needles found in parking lots, near schools and in back alleys downtown is “absolutely out of control.”
“I noticed a group of four young ladies, aged 14 to 16, and what caught my attention was something they had in their hands. These young ladies were spinning a dirty needle that was connected to a two-and-a-half-footlong tape. The needle had just been used,” Graham said.
He also told of issues experienced by his own staff members, including a tire being slashed and spit being plastered across the employee’s car.
“The faith is not there right now,” Graham said of the RCMP.
Graham’s submissions to city council came pointedly prior to Insp. Ted De Jager, officer in charge of the Penticton RCMP, giving his quarterly crime report.
De Jager noted the RCMP’s new community support and enforcement team, headed up by Cpl. Laurie Rock, is for the entire community.
“Not just the downtown. If there’s a determination it should be focused on that, then we have to decide what areas we will not be focusing on,” De Jager said. “It’s not a question of whether we have enough resources — we do for a town of this size.
“It’s a matter of deploying those resources appropriately, and we can certainly look at doing that balanced against our other priorities.”
De Jager said every call for service comes with a file number given to the complainant, in response to Graham’s claim of no-show calls to police. In one instance, Graham said, a man was witnessed drinking an entire 15-pack of beer throughout the day with no attention paid by authorities.
“If there are cases where complainants were advised, the police were attending and the police did not attend, then I need those file numbers and then I can look at that in greater detail,” De Jager said.
De Jager said looking ahead to the spring, overtime hours are going to be put in place allowing for two members active during peak hours for the busy tourist season.
Rock was on hand during the presentation and said she understands the frustrations, and touted the “see something, say something” approach.
“If we don’t know about it, we can’t deal with it,” Rock said. “If we don’t get called about drug deals . . . those are the people our team is super anxious to catch. If we don’t know about it, I can’t do anything about it.”