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By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: Don’t believe mayoral candidates who promise to crack down on crime

Apr 29, 2022 | 10:36 AM

ANY MAYORAL CANDIDATE WHO SAYS he or she is going to get tough on crime and clean up the streets of Kamloops is fooling you — and probably fooling themselves.

In reality, even if a candidate has comprehensive crime reduction strategies and every intention to enact them, there is only so much a local mayor and council can do.

On the policing side, B.C. is signed on with the RCMP until 2032.

If we wanted to opt out, start our own municipal police force and pump up the boots-on-the-ground numbers to the desired level of a law-and-order candidate, it would be incredibly expensive.

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Think this year’s 5 per cent municipal tax increase is high? Get ready for a lot more big tax increases if we head toward a municipal force — or even the provincial force recommended by an all-party committee of the B.C. legislature this week.

If the candidate thinks the justice system’s treatment of offenders is the problem, they may be right — but there’s still nothing mayor and council can do to influence that.

Catch and release is a problem that is not unique to Kamloops and one that needs to be solved on a national level.

Perhaps the candidate believes more should be done to treat those who grapple with substance use disorder.

Once again, the major work on that file must be undertaken at other levels of government.

City of Kamloops mayor and council can encourage safe supply, it can encourage treatment and recovery beds to be supplied, but it’s the provincial government and its contractors that actually provide those services.

The same goes with the mental health supports that so many of those committing property crime in our city need.

The City does have a role in the provision of housing — and the current council has announced several partnerships to encourage the provision of more affordable and supportive housing within Kamloops.

Mayor and council could remove or relocate shelters, it could spend more money on more security provisions, but those are Band-aid solutions to systemic problems.

And that’s what these are — major societal problems that are being manifest here in Kamloops.

Local council can do little more than lobby loudly and hope for the best.

Unless it’s Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne, there is no mayoral candidate who is going to do much more.

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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.