An example of one of the homeless camps set up along the South Thompson River in Valleyview (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

VALLEYVIEW CRIME

Valleyview residents fear vigilantism over homeless, crime issues along riverbanks, in their neighbourhoods

May 4, 2021 | 4:40 PM

KAMLOOPS — Julie Dormer knows there’s a housing crisis, and the chair of the Valleyview Community Association is sympathetic to people who are without a home.

“It’s understandable that people are going to need to camp and sometimes it’s the best answer for them, and that’s fine,” she said.

What she isn’t fine with is people setting up full-on camp sites — filled with some items she suspects are stolen from the Valleyview neighbourhood.

“The camps are getting huge. They are getting lots of garbage. It’s the human waste. It’s the stolen property,” said Dormer.

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Up from the riverbank in Valleyview is the same problem affecting businesses.

Co-owner of Harold’s Restaurant Manny Mattis is constantly cleaning up his property that fills with junk.

“They’re coming back in here. [There’s] garbage everywhere. We’re just inundated with garbage and trash. They’re shooting up back here. We’re dealing with needles, we’re dealing with drug paraphernalia, fires. There have been four fires,” noted Mattis.

Both Valleyview businesses and residents are calling on the city to do more, including training more Community Services Officers into action.

The mayor of Kamloops, Ken Christian, says the city can’t stop people from camping along the river, but bylaw tries to limit the amount of time they spend there.

“The alternative is an encampment in a park, which we’ve seen fail miserably in other communities, so we’ve taken a bit more of a lenient approach during the COVID pandemic,” said Christian.

Christian says council has worked with housing providers to get more people shelter, but some refuse.

Meanwhile, Dormer fears with more and more Valleyview residents visiting these camps in an attempt to get their belongings back, it will end badly for someone.

“There’s going to be an incident. It’s not going to be good. I am worried about when something like that does happen,” she said.

The Valleyview Community Association would like to see more patrols — by both police and bylaw — so residents can start to enjoy their neighbourhoods again.

The association is hosting an online information session next Tuesday, May 11 with the new community services department. Residents are welcome to join the Zoom meeting, ask questions, and express their concerns about what’s happening in their neighbourhood.

Residents can join the call on the Valleyview Community Chat page on Facebook or email valleyviewcommunityassociation@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.