By Ashley Legassic

How Kamloops motel owners and police are working to deter crime

Feb 5, 2019 | 4:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — Criminal activity surrounding local motels has been a prominent problem in Kamloops for years. From low-level drug dealers congregating around the businesses, to a pair of homicides at local hotels last month, police and motel owners are working together to combat these issues.

Manga Basi has owned the Star Lodge along Columbia Street West since 1999 — but only stepped into the role of hands-on manager about four years ago. Since then, Basi says he’s made it a priority to ensure guests, staff and himself are safe.

“I’m trying to contribute, myself, to keep the society free from the crime, free from the drugs, and free from the bad elements,” Basi says. “But I can’t. So if I see something, or my staff, I always advise my staff when you see something, any illegal activities around here, any strangers or strange cars come over here, let me know or call 911 right to the police so they can protect the good citizens.”

Basi also owns the Desert Inn just down the road. Both properties have had their own issues with criminal activity. A high-risk operation at the Star Lodge last February led to a massive police presence while officers tried to detain a man wanted on an outstanding warrant.

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Basi says the man wasn’t a guest at the motel, but his staff did step in to assist police with a suspect description and location. He says the motel makes it a priority to establish who exactly is checking in.

“People come over here to stay overnight, they pay the money. And we always try to check the people with proper IDs, and their backgrounds, and their addresses up to some extent; there are limitations,” he says. “Most of the time people are very cooperative, but sometimes they say, ‘No, why are you asking about ID?’ I say, ‘You know, this is the law. I can’t check you in without having the proper legal ID. If you don’t have it then I can’t check you in. Sometimes people agree; sometimes people can get mad.”

Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says officers have worked to collaborate with motel owners, in hopes of deterring criminal activity from local businesses.

“Hotels or motels are short-term commitments for criminals and easy to get in and get out of, they don’t have to sign a lease or anything like that. So it’s just convenient for them to use a hotel or motel if they’re going to be doing criminal activity in a community,” she says. “In general, the owners are law-abiding citizens. So they really do want to work with us. If we approach them they’re definitely receptive to it and often they’ll call us if they see suspicious activity to make us aware of it as well.”

Cpl. Kurt Veller is one of those officers working with motel owners. He says educating owners on the red flags to look out for plays a major factor in deterring crime.

“If you see a person move in and all of the sudden they start putting up cameras of their own outside of it, or not allowing people to access the rooms… it’s always a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door for extended periods of time, then usually it’s kind of some signs that stand out,” Veller says. “If they’re at the front and they’re signing, and they’re not providing ID or a valid credit card… maybe then kind of start putting two and two together and realizing who you may be renting to.”

“Not to say that everybody that doesn’t have valid ID there is going to be involved in that, but definitely should be aware of that in case there’s other signs that point to that as well.”

Several motels stretching from Valleyview to Aberdeen have been the site of police activity in recent years. Unsealed search warrants show some motels have been used to stash weapons, exchange drugs and store stolen property.

Veller says several firearms can be hidden easily, in clothing, hockey bags, or luggage. He adds if motel owners think anything suspicious is going on, police are always willing to respond.

Last month, two homicides at separate hotels in the city on the same day were linked to organized crime.

In one case last year, eight kayaks were recovered by police at the Tournament Inn in Valleyview, along with tens of thousands of dollars in other stolen property. In March 2017, three people were arrested at a local motel after police found a stolen vehicle parked outside their motel room.

A search warrant executed on that room found stolen property related to local break-ins.

Shelkie says criminals have been known to use motels and hotels as stash houses.

“It’s not just in Kamloops; it’s in most communities that criminals will use hotels as stash houses, and they’ll use any kind of rental. Some criminals rent homes or apartments,” she says. “We have found in stash houses, not just motels or hotels but other residences of criminals, that they have drugs there and with drugs almost always comes weapons. Drugs and weapons go hand in hand so we’ll find different types of weapons there, also people who are into break and enters and thefts we find lots of stolen property there.”

Basi says the majority of guests who stay at his motels are good, honest people, adding that he generally has a good read on others. But it’s never easy to spot when someone could be hiding something.

“They’re artistic, when they come over here,” he says. “They use their artistic skills to prove themselves: ‘We are the best people, best personality in the world.’ They come with a different face and go with a different face.”

RCMP say for the most part, motel owners have been very cooperative with officers when it comes to targetting criminal activity. But if owners do opt to turn a blind eye, there could be repercussions for them, including enforcement of the city’s ‘Good Neighbour’ bylaw, which aims to deter police activity at properties.

“The first step is often the motel or hotel owners just don’t know what they can do to get rid of these type of people from their hotels or motels,” Shelkie says. “So work with the police, and we’ll help them have a plan, we’ll go there and we’ll help them monitor the comings and goings of these people and maybe there’s some action that we can do to help the hotel and motel owners.”

“The second thing would be, we may get the Good Neighbour bylaw enforced, and they may receive a letter saying that the City of Kamloops is working now with the RCMP and they’ll get the letter about the Good Neighbour bylaw. And if that doesn’t work there’s always the possibility of civil forfeiture getting involved, and letting them know that their business is being used for criminal activity and down the road they may actually use it.”

The bylaw came into place November 2017 in response to nuisance properties in the city. Under the bylaw, landlords of nuisance properties can be charged the costs for RCMP and fire attendance if the property receives a complaint more than once in a 24-hour period or more than three times in a year.

But as long as landlords show they’re cooperating with bylaw and working to resolve the problem, they won’t have to pay the fine.

Basi says he won’t put money ahead of safety, and he echoes the RCMP who say criminal activity around motels is bad for business in the long term.

“Money is not the priority to me. To keep this environment safe… Canada is one of the best countries in the world, so being a Canadian citizen I think we should all contribute a little bit more to maintain and sustain this status that we have.”