Putting public safety first: Okanagan mayors call for justice reform
In the Okanagan, one individual was responsible for more than 220 negative police interactions since 2021.
They have ignored court orders (including bail conditions) 31 times, failed to appear in court 32 times, and gone right back to committing assaults, threats, thefts, and disturbances within days of being released.
Most alarming, this is not an outlier.
This is our justice system repeatedly sending chronic offenders back onto the streets of our community without consequence, without care, emboldened to continue victimizing our community. Our citizens and businesses deserve better.
At what point do we draw the line and hold individuals accountable, enforcing real consequences that prioritize public safety and restore confidence in our justice system?
As the Mayors of Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and West Kelowna, we are adding our voices together to call for meaningful justice system reform. These issues are not unique to the Okanagan. Communities across British Columbia are grappling with chronic offenders cycling through a justice system that is stretched beyond capacity, while the most vulnerable people are left on our streets without a pathway to recovery.
Municipalities are doing what we can within our jurisdiction. We have invested heavily in RCMP, bylaw officers, firefighters, and local crime reduction programs. We have provided land and advocated for solutions that address homelessness and support our local businesses. But local governments are not designed, empowered, or resourced to handle the escalating costs of homelessness, crime, untreated mental illness, addictions and related street disorder.
Lasting change has to come from the Provincial and Federal governments addressing the root causes of these challenges head on. Right now, our justice system is failing, and it is communities including ours that are paying the price.
Consider this:
In Kelowna in 2024, 15 individuals were responsible for 1,335 police files. That is a new police file nearly every four days, per person, and yet they were released back into the community almost immediately.
In Penticton in 2024, 15 individuals were responsible for 420 police files.
The costs are felt by people in every corner of this province.
It is the exhausted small business owner forced to replace windows monthly and employ expensive security measures to keep their staff safe.
It is police, paramedics, outreach team frontline workers frustrated, stretched thin and burning out as they provide their essential services.
It is families losing confidence in the courts, knowing that British Columbia has the lowest charge rate for reported crime in Canada — down more than 40 per cent in the past decade.
As municipalities across the province head to Victoria for the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Conference, the call for action has never been more urgent or loud.
We do not need another plan, another report, or another round of announcements. The solutions are clear, and many are already identified in the 2022 Provincial Government commissioned report A Rapid Investigation into Repeat Offending and Random Stranger Violence in British Columbia.
We need the Provincial Government to continue to advocate to the Federal Government to bring forward bail reform that holds chronic property offenders accountable. British Columbians deserve a justice system that prioritizes public safety, restores confidence, and ends the revolving door of chronic violent and property crime.
We are also asking the province to invest in more Crown prosecutors in our communities, including dedicated Crown Counsel to keep up with the growing number of chronic offenders.
The under-resourcing gap within BC’s Interior was highlighted recently by the BC Crown Counsel Association, which called for 20 more prosecutors in our region. Increasing Crown resources in Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton will improve caseload management, strengthen bail hearings, provide consistent case management, and reduce burnout and turnover.
Finally, mandatory compassionate care is urgently needed for those who pose a danger to themselves or others. In the Central Okanagan, there is no current regional facility for individuals with severe mental health and substance use challenges who cannot seek treatment voluntarily. That gap forces police officers, bylaw officers, firefighters, and emergency rooms into roles they were never designed to take on, while the person in crisis continues to cycle between the street, shelters, hospitals, jail and bail.
In Penticton, the Integrated Crisis Response Team (ICRT)—a partnership between RCMP and Interior Health—responded to over 1,311 client contacts in 2024 alone. This staggering number reflects the overwhelming demand placed on frontline enforcement and health workers and underscores the urgent need for a regional facility that can provide timely, compassionate, and mandatory care for those in crisis. Without it, communities like ours are left managing complex health emergencies with limited tools and escalating consequences.
Everyone wants to feel safe where they live. Our residents want to have confidence that criminals are held accountable. Everyone wants to see people in crisis receive timely compassionate care and begin their recovery journey. Small businesses want to grow and flourish. But achieving that vision requires bold, swift and decisive action.
Municipalities are doing our part.
Now we need the Government of BC and the Government of Canada to make the investments and provide the legislative framework that creates safe and thriving communities.
The time for reports has passed. The time for action is now.
Tom Dyas (Kelowna), Julius Bloomfield (Penticton), Victor Cumming (Vernon) and Gord Milsom (West Kelowna)
