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Kamloops  

City receives $2M grant to fund gang, gun violence prevention

$2M to combat gangs, guns

The City of Kamloops has received a $2 million federal grant to develop a gang and gun violence prevention program.

The former council directed staff to apply for the grant in July 2022, with council members hearing at the time that the money would be distributed over four years to develop custom initiatives addressing gun and gang activities.

During a committee meeting on Thursday, Byron McCorkell, the city’s director for community and protective services, said a co-ordinator and a consultant will be hired to develop programs aiming to educate Kamloops residents around the dangers of guns and gangs.

“We are pretty excited about that, with our RCMP partners, to be able to address those issues,” McCorkell said.

“I think this effort will pay dividends.”

McCorkell said along with the grant, the city has also received a seized 2008 Porsche Cayman from Civil Forfeiture BC.

“We’ll be using that as a statement piece for the guns and gangs program so we can attract some attention to the program while it's out and about,” McCorkell said.



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