Kelowna's top cop promises sweeping changes as she unveils the Kelowna RCMP's three-year strategic plan

Photo: Castanet/file

Kelowna's new top cop says officers within her detachment will serve residents of the community with dignity and compassion.

Five months into the job, Supt. Kara Triance stood before city council with her vision for the next three years.

"The Kelowna detachment is proud to be a detachment of the RCMP. You can see in this (3-year strategic) plan one of the guiding principles is the mission, vision and values of the RCMP - taking us back to our core values," said Triance.

"The core values of honesty, integrity, professionalism, compassion, accountability, respect must be throughout all that we do as we serve this community."

The plan, says Triance, includes bringing trust back to the force, acknowledging only a small portion of crime is reported to the police.

"The goals and objectives in this plan are committed to the learning we had that suggest we had work to do in our communities to build that relationship and those important connections.

"Our goal is to increase the awareness and options of what to expect when reporting persons crimes. We are going to work to ensure that 70 per cent of our detachment is trained in and has adopted the "Start By Believing" campaign, which is to improve our response to sexual violence."

Triance says the detachment will strive to 'show up at our best for every citizen,' by investing in leadership training and internal wellness reviews.

"When internally we are well, we are resourced and when we are clear in our leadership, our supervision and accountability, our officers are going to show up at the best for our community," said Triance.

"I have spent the last five months listening, implementing changes, understanding that we cannot move forward without psychological resilience for all police professionals.

"If our internal health is prioritized and our training is exact and we are showing up with compassion for our citizens, I believe we will make a difference for those experiencing victimization for every citizen. For those with personal loss, mental health and substance abuse issues, our officers will be there and serving with dignity."

As for specifics, Triance says the detachment will prioritize downtown, Central Kelowna and Central Rutland as areas of priority.

She says the detachment will work with residents, businesses and the courts to to deter property crime theft and prolific offenders, and also create safety and security plans with five supportive housing units or shelters within the next three years.

The plan comes as the detachment continues to try and improve its image and regain the public's trust following a number of embarrassing incidents involving some officers over the past 24 months.

Mayor Colin Basran called the plan probably the best he has seen put forth by the RCMP during his time on council, saying it hits all the key points.