'It's a health care issue': mayor, RCMP respond to rash of break-ins at Kelowna businesses

Photo: Jayden Wasney

The mayor of Kelowna and RCMP are responding to business owners in the Spall and Springfield Road areas calling for a large police presence in the area after a rash of break-ins this week.

Minit-Tune & Brake, La-Z-Boy Furniture and Pro Source all had their windows broken Tuesday night. Owner of Minit-Tune and Brake, Mike Hlushko, called on the city to step up.

“There's nothing being done. One thing I would like to point out is that we’ve got this pandemic with COVID, well, the mayor of Kelowna Mr. Basran, you need to know we have another pandemic in this city, and its theft and homelessness,” said Hlushko. “A lot of us business people in this whole area are so fed up with it.”

Basran tells Castanet he understands the frustration.

“I’m very empathetic and I think it's awful what's happening to these business owners. It's tough dealing with the pandemic, let alone this on top of it, so certainly I understand where their frustrations are coming from."

He added social issues in the community are top of mind. “That's why council has invested heavily over the last number of years in more RCMP officers, but it's also not feasible to have officers in every neighbourhood overnight anticipating something."

The mayor says the city will continue to invest in its police force. “Often the underlying issue is drug addiction and mental health, and these are not areas that municipal governments are responsible for. But, the city of Kelowna has been very proactive over the last few years with these things. We’ve been able to house and support hundreds of residents which I think is making a positive impact, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

Basran said he will continue to advocate with the provincial and federal government about these issues, but he says it isn’t just happening in Kelowna.

“I am the chair of the B.C. Urban Mayors Caucus which represents the 13 largest municipalities in the province — this is our top advocacy priority, because this scenario that happened to these businesses is playing out in every one of those communities." said Basran. "Strictly police and locking people up doesn't fix this.”

Basran called the situation a “health care issue... it needs to be treated as such.”

The Kelowna RCMP says it is also investigating.

“All reports of mischief to our local businesses are being fully investigated and we can understand the frustration these incidents can create. When our officers aren't responding to ongoing and reported crimes, we allocate our resources based on crime trends and preventative patrols. We would encourage anyone who is witnessing or experiencing criminal activity to report it to their police of jurisdiction. This information is used by us to determine how best to prevent and deter crime," the detachment said in a statement.