Enforcement team assembled to keep order
Mounties and city bylaw officers pose for a photo in Nanaimo Square in downtown Penticton. The city has declared the party is over for those who “break the law, drink and use drugs in a public place, occupy and damage city and private property.”
By now you’ve seen the fearsome photo on our front page depicting police and bylaw officers in Nanaimo Square. It was attached to a press release issued Thursday by the city titled: “The party is over.”
“Penticton is a beautiful and safe community. Penticton is our home. If you are here to enjoy all Penticton has to offer, ‘Welcome.’ If you are here to break the law, drink and use drugs in a public place, occupy and damage city and private property, your life is about to get complicated,” the release says.
“The City of Penticton is taking a zero tolerance approach to all unacceptable behaviours and illegal activities.
“It is time to take our community back from a small group of people that cause a high percentage of the problems. We encourage residents and visitors to report any activity that threatens the safety and beauty of our home.”
Here’s hoping you will take up the city and police on their offer to start kicking ass by calling in trouble if you see it. And here’s hoping they will find the resources to respond when you do call.
If you think the brazen show of force is a bit over the top, consider what went on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Penticton.
Around 3 p.m., members of the RCMP’s Targeted Enforcement Unit pulled over a man and woman on Main Street and took them into custody in connection with a drug investigation.
Around 4:30 p.m., bylaw officers were called to the public washroom in Okanagan Lake Park to bust up what city manager Peter Weeber described as a “meth party.” The washroom had just been repaired after suffering $3,000 in damage in late June.
And around 6 p.m., firefighters were called to an alley on Martin Street to revive a man in his 20s who had been felled by a drug overdose. The victim was revived with naloxone.
That’s three hours in the life of our city, and it’s undoubtedly just the tip of the iceberg. It’s also the new normal, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Phone in suspicious activity as you’ve been asked to do, and if you don’t get results, let us know.
It’s time we start holding to account the people we’re relying upon – and paying – to maintain order. If the party isn’t actually over, then we know who really needs to go.
Bylaw services can be reached at 250-490-2440 or after hours at 250-809-4367. The Penticton RCMP detachment’s number is 250-492-4300. If it’s an emergency, dial 911.
-— City editor Joe Fries