It's worked in downtown Kelowna, so why not try it in Rutland?
The City of Kelowna has committed $130,000 to kick-start an On-Call program for the community.
The plan is to model it after the one that's been operated by Downtown Kelowna Association for over 15 years.
The Uptown Rutland Business Association has contributed another $50,000 toward the program and will be seeking grants and sponsorships to come up with an additional $125,000.
"We recognize how well the team has worked in downtown Kelowna," said Mayor Tom Dyas.
Dyas points out how the downtown crew was able to respond to close to 6,000 calls for service, easing the burden on the RCMP and Bylaw officers.
"They were able to work through those calls and bring them down to only about 400 of them either bylaw or the RCMP had to respond to."
Dyas said the idea for a Rutland On-Call team emerged around the table with the Mayor's Task Force on Crime.
Recent RCMP stats have shown an increase in crime in Rutland, which further underlines the need for the program.
It begins as a pilot project.
"We will look at this as potentially something that could continue further funding into the future if the pilot program is successful," said Dyas.
Whether the pilot runs for a portion of the year or year-round depends on how successful the Uptown Rutland Business Association is at raising the balance of the funding.
"And then we'll re-evaluate," said Dyas.
The initial city funding for the program is coming from the budget already set aside for the Mayor's task force.
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