Welcome, but please stay home
Known gangsters, drug-dealers, and people with a history of violence can be barred from Kelowna restaurants and pubs this summer.
The so-called Inadmissible Patron Policy will operate for the eighth year in a row, police announced Thursday.
“This program has been extremely successful in Kelowna and has become an integral part of our efforts to ensure community safety from organized criminal elements,” RCMP Supt. Kara Triance said in a release.
Business owners who are concerned a potential customer might be a gangster, or otherwise pose a risk to the safety of others at the establishment, can call police.
When they arrive, officers will invoke the authority of the B.C. Trespass Act to ask the person or individuals of concern to produce identification.
If they refuse to do so, police will escort them off the premises. If the identification they produce indicates through a check of police databases that they have gang ties, a history of violence or involvement in the drug trade, they can also be made to leave the business.
“Our goal with this program is for all patrons at our local businesses to feel safe knowing they aren’t being placed at risk due to ongoing criminal conduct,” Kelowna RCMP Insp. Beth McAndie said in the release. McAndie recently transferred to Kelowna from Surrey, where she was a senior investigator on the major crimes unit.
Although indoor dining and drinking is currently prohibited in B.C. under public health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s expected the government will relax those rules as soon as next Tuesday.