(Mel Rothenburger).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: More on the Riverside Park decision and high-risk takedowns

May 22, 2021 | 6:30 AM

SOME FURTHER DETAILS need to be laid out to fully understand how an extremely effective lobby from within the business community quickly worked its way up through the City Hall hierarchy to council.

As a result, unspecified recreational offerings will show up in Riverside Park this summer, centered at the site of the old concession building. Such things are not contrary to the spirit and detail of the City’s Downtown Plan as some insist. While the park isn’t supposed to be subject to “commercialization,” the plan says Riverside should be promoted for “passive and active recreational activities.”

However, the Parks Master Plan is very big on public involvement in decisions made about parks, and that’s where council dropped the ball.

The full-court press was led by Tourism Kamloops CEO Bev DeSantis, who made some headlines a couple of years ago for trying to resurrect the unpopular idea of a convention centre built with tax dollars. She called the need “desperate.”

The fact she’s a candidate for the federal Conservative nomination has also been raised online but that’s a red herring.

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Tourism Kamloops gathered letters of support from 46 businesses, individuals and organizations, including the chamber of commerce, the downtown BIA, North Shore BIA and several Victoria Street merchants. (By the way, one of the letters came from Kamloops Water Sports Rentals, which rents kayaks, canoes and paddle boards by the hour or day.)

The proposal was added to a parks engagement group agenda at the last minute. Apparently, there was no actual motion or vote but it was kicked upstairs to council’s civic operations committee and from there to the full council.

The rationale for this slap dash “let’s just do it” approach is that we need to act fast because of COVID. What COVID has to do with it is a good question. It might help a vendor or two or three but it’s not going to put a dent in the city’s economic woes.

But that’s how an unusually quick decision, with no written proposal presented by the proponent, few details, no budget, no evaluation plan and no public consultation won the day.

***

I’ve been waiting for a formal public apology from the RCMP on that embarrassing “high-risk takedown” out on the Trans Canada a couple of weeks ago. An officer at the scene did apologize after the cops surrounded a car at the busy Vicars Road intersection and forced the two scared-spitless occupants to crawl on their hands and knees toward a bunch of uniformed guys who were pointing guns at them but nothing public was offered.

I also wanted to know what a high-risk takedown is, so I inquired to RCMP this week and received this written explanation from operations officer Insp. Jeff Pelley:

“A high risk or code 5 takedown is as a result of information pertaining to a potential offence and a tactical arrest of a suspected offender(s) based on a risk assessment. This is a method used to enhance police and public safety when arresting or apprehending a potentially violent offender that was being searched for in a recent shooting.

“In these specific circumstances, a vehicle was identified as fleeing a shots fired investigation where a male was shot in Chase and being airlifted to hospital for medical attention. Based on an investigator assessment with suspect(s) outstanding, a firearm being involved, a detailed vehicle description inclusive of potential name resulted in a coordinated response with Kamloops RCMP.

“This, compounded with an assessment of the travel time from the location of the offence to a location where the vehicle was proactively located, are all considerations for their grounds. In fact, the vehicle description was a specific make, model and colour with tinted windows and a potential suspect had a surname matching the registered owner of the licence plate query.

“In this case, it was expected the officer and responding units would coordinate a high-risk stop of the vehicle and effect an arrest given all the information that was dynamic during the course of this investigation with reasonable grounds of an offence being committed under Section 495 CC.

“It is unfortunate that high-risk takedown was the wrong individuals and vehicle, but it was quickly resolved roadside due to the cooperation of the occupants of the vehicle when it was determined they were not involved in this offence.

“An apology was made on scene by the involved officer, which would have been impactful at the time having come directly from the officers involved.”

Well, I’m sure there are good reasons they couldn’t just hit the sirens first to see if the driver pulled over before launching the “high risk” part but given that it was done at one of the most dangerous intersections in town, some public reassurance — instead of burying the fact it was all a big mistake at the bottom of a press release — might have been in order.

And maybe a more prominent apology.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.