RCMP Sgt. Kevin Schur (left) addressed residents of Bridesville accompanied by Cpl. Jason Bayda. RCMP organized a town hall meeting to discuss the high volume of calls to police, but many residents wanted to talk about their problems with one local individual. (Keith Lacey photo)
There are some major concerns in Bridesville, but a visit by top brass with the Osoyoos RCMP was designed to reduce tensions in the normally tight-knit community located 35 kilometres east of Osoyoos.
Due to a significant increase in the number of police calls so far in 2014, Sgt. Kevin Schur, the detachment commander for the Osoyoos RCMP, and Cpl. Jason Bayda organized a town hall meeting at the Bridesville Community Hall last Thursday afternoon.
To date in 2014, the RCMP had received 53 calls for service in Bridesville alone (not including the surrounding country roads), compared with 14 calls in 2013 and 16 calls in 2012.
Approximately 60 residents attended last Thursday’s meeting, which lasted just over 2.5 hours. That is a significant number when you consider the entire population of the town site is estimated at less than 50.
The meeting started off with Schur and Bayda voicing their concerns over the number – and nature – of the calls being handled by the RCMP so far this year.
“We need some help … we need to work together to make things better,” said Schur.
Schur and Bayda both took the time to explain their concerns over the number of calls and inform Bridesville residents how the criminal justice system works in British Columbia.
While it is the duty of police to investigate allegations of criminal wrongdoing and to interview witnesses and gather evidence, it is Crown prosecutors who make the final determination if criminal charges will be laid following all investigations, said Bayda.
Despite repeated pleas by Schur and Bayda to not discuss specific issues relating to individual complaints by citizens, the meeting quickly devolved into numerous citizens blaming one particular citizen for a myriad of problems taking place in Bridesville.
Their accusations were serious and there was a lot of profanity and emotion involved.
“This is not the forum to report incidents to police … this isn’t the forum for that,” said Schur, without much success.
Despite the many allegations made against this individual, the Osoyoos Times has confirmed no criminal charges have been laid against him as of Tuesday’s press deadline following numerous complaints by different residents in Bridesville.
Schur went on to explain that officers from the Osoyoos RCMP detachment cover a huge geographical region that spreads all the way to the bridge in Rock Creek to Road 20 between Oliver and Osoyoos and the entire Town of Osoyoos as well as most of rural Area A in the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS).
“And we only have six officers to cover our entire region … we’re spread kind of thin,” said Schur. “We’ve had budget cuts like everybody else over the last couple of years. We don’t have an infinite number of police officers and we don’t go (immediately) to every call. We have to prioritize.”
A regional dispatcher answers all 911 calls and senior RCMP staff then has to prioritize all of the calls that come in, he said.
Any incident where there is a risk to human health is considered top priority and officers, usually two, are dispatched immediately, he said.
The reality is the number of police calls reported by residents in the town site in Bridesville has become worrisome and numerous criminal investigations have determined many of those calls were not serious, even though residents felt they were, said Schur.
“We’ve had a lot of calls from here … probably more than we’ve ever had,” he said. “That’s very concerning to me as the boss in Osoyoos.”
When the meeting once again devolved into singling out the same man for the majority of police calls in Bridesville, Schur stepped in and said that statement simply wasn’t accurate.
“We’ve arrested a number of people … I believe there have been six arrests and some have been arrested a couple of times,” he said. “And just because you are arrested doesn’t mean they get charged or end up in court.”
Unlike some other provinces, Bayda reiterated it’s up to Crown prosecutors to lay charges in British Columbia after receiving police reports after a criminal complaint is filed.
“We send our reports to the prosecutors in Penticton … they approve the charges, not us,” he said.
Police in B.C. can hold a suspect for more than 24 hours “only if it’s a serious offence,” said Bayda.
Many of the incidents being reported from Bridesville involve a “he said, she said scenario” and prosecutors are reluctant to lay charges without corroborating evidence, he said.
The Crown must determine if filing a criminal charge, based on all of the evidence presented to them, is in the public interest and there’s a strong likelihood of conviction, said Bayda.
If it isn’t in the public interest and the likelihood of conviction isn’t strong, Crown prosecutors are reluctant to spend the time, money and effort to file criminal charges and tie up valuable police and court resources, said Schur.
There have been numerous incidents this year in Bridesville when a complainant has made serious accusations they believe to be criminal in nature, but the police investigation determined that wasn’t the case, said Schur.
“If people don’t co-operate with us, the Crown doesn’t have enough to get a conviction,” he said.
Police will act on complaints and conduct thorough investigations, but it’s the Crown that determines the seriousness of the allegations and whether or not a criminal prosecution will proceed, he reiterated.
“Call us for important things and give us accurate information … and please be willing to co-operate with us during our investigations,” said Schur.
Telling a friend or colleague about an incident and hoping that friend will report a criminal offence to police is not the way to seek justice, said Bayda.
“If you witness an event, come out and speak with us,” he said. “That can help confirm what was reported was accurate. Having corroboration really helps the Crown counsel make a decision to lay charges.”
When one man suggested the community establish a “phone tree” where residents phone each other if they believe something of a criminal nature is taking place, Schur said that’s a “terrific idea” and one that can easily be put into place.
“If people are out watching and some guy is doing something bad, he’s going to get caught,” he said.
Bayda said officers from the Osoyoos detachment have organized a successful Speed Watch and Citizens on Patrol programs, where volunteers assist police after receiving training, and would be more than willing to assist Bridesville residents in forming similar programs.
“We would be more than willing to train volunteers here and train them to use our equipment,” he said. “If you’re interested in our Citizens on Patrol program … we’ll help you set it up. That’s a great idea.”
Following the boisterous meeting, several residents thanked Bayda and Schur for taking the time and effort to try and improve the current conditions in Bridesville and others commented they would contact Bayda to try and organize programs to help reduce the number of incidents resulting in calls to police moving forward.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
