Over 250 people attended a town hall on policing at the Penticton convention centre Wednesday evening, hosted by the detachment’s new commander Inspector Ted De Jager.

De Jager presented several graphs comparing the Penticton detachment to others in the region, which ranked the communities overall crime rate below Kamloops, but above Kelowna and the North Okanagan.

“That’s the rate that we want to look at and see go down,” De Jager said “And we don’t make that go down just by constantly spinning the hamster wheel and doing the same thing, we make that go down through new techniques and initiatives.”

He announced that a “public safety committee” would be reinstalled, to give bring health care agencies, non-profits and the community at large into a room together to work on solutions. The Penticton RCMP targeted enforcement unit will be granted new funding from the rural detachments to help target prolific crooks that operate throughout the region.

De Jager also announced a focus on mental health, and a dedicated “mental health officer” and community support and enforcement team, inspired by successful “Car 67” programs in other centres.

The detachment’s apparent focus on the root causes of crime drew praise from many.

Source: Castanet files