WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY SAFER?
OSOYOOS TIMES-December 17, 2008
When the Osoyoos Times looked into the recent spree of thefts on Anarchist Mountain, as reported on in our Page 1 story, the local police were reluctant to tell us that there are times in the day when there are no patrols of our area.
Fair enough.
It's not something anyone wants to draw attention to as it advertises to criminals that there are windows when they can go about their business with less of a chance of being caught.
But the community needs to know about these periods of vulnerability so that it can, and should, raise its voice to the province” which gives the local RCMP detachment money for recruiting” to give us some help.
We need to send a message that while money and resources are being diverted to something as unnecessary as the upcoming Olympic Games in Vancouver, our area is at risk from increased levels of crime because we do not have the adequate police resources to properly patrol the towns of Osoyoos and Oliver.
At the same time, is there more that our Town can do, independent of the province, to make our streets and neighbourhoods safer?
Could Destination Osoyoos be approached to establish a program similar to its doctor-recruitment campaign to help bring more police to our communities?
The local RCMP detachment is working hard to protect this area, but the mountain thefts have revealed that they need help in covering such a large area outside of Osoyoos and Oliver.
While the province is distracted with the looming circus in Vancouver and Whistler, why don't we, as a community, step up and see if we can take more of a role in keeping this area safe.
