LOCAL SECURITY ISSUE NEEDS JOINT LOOK BY RCMP & TOWN
(OSOYOOS TIMES — August 22, 2007) —
Town Council is right to hold off on quickly throwing money at the downtown security issue.
That might be a quick fix that would look politically good on the surface.
But to its merit, Council has shown a deeper consideration of the question and has rightly said it needs to see more fact-based evidence of what the problem is and just how it might be fixed.
In the spring of 2006 there was little doubt that downtown Osoyoos had a problem.
Large plate-glass windows were being smashed regularly “ at great expense to the affected downtown retail merchants each time “ and goods were being stolen from the stores.
The store owners rallied, hired a night security guard, and the break-ins and vandalism stopped immediately.
But we haven't seen or heard evidence of the same degree of problem for the downtown merchants this spring and summer.
The merchants have told Council there's a problem and say they need the Town to chip in to help pay for the solution.
But there are problems with that.
First, to mount the suggested solution “ a nighttime security patrol “ would be expensive.
And, as Councillor Allan Carswell points out, it would also be a very selective use of local taxpayers' dollars. There are other parts of Osoyoos that experience rashes of break-ins. Why should the merchants get Town-funded security when homeowners don't get the same thing? It could be argued that there is more onus on merchants to pay for their own security, as a part of the cost of doing business “ while homeowners have more right to ask for Town assistance in making sure their neighbourhoods and their homes are safe.
The issue of overnight security “ not only for the downtown core, but also for motel row, and all the residential parts of Osoyoos “ needs to be looked at in detail in close co-operation with the local RCMP.
If there is evidence that areas need special attention, that should be addressed by the police, the Town and the merchants together.
