Kamloops council urged to arm bylaw staff
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KAMLOOPS — The bylaw services manager with the City of Kelowna is encouraging Kamloops council to pony up to equip our own bylaw enforcement officers with defensive weaponry.
Greg Wise says Kelowna bylaw officers have been carrying tools like handcuffs, batons, and pepper spray since 1998.
Wise says he believes there are only four recorded instances of his officers having to use the tools since then, but their mere presence can de-escalate tense situations.
“We deal with a number of transient and homeless population, and some of them are addressing mental health issues as well as drug users that can be unpredictable in their behavior, in a lot of circumstances here this sort of thing does not escalate when they see the fact we have some appropriate tool sets to defend ourselves,” said Wise.
