(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
July 27, 2015 - 4:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - The RCMP victim services program in Kamloops is undergoing a review as the program struggles to meet the 24-hour, seven day a week demand.
The program, which coordinates support for victims of crime, has a complement of roughly 30 volunteers according to Kamloops RCMP staff sergeant Brad Mueller. The commanding officer says it’s a combination of increased calls for service and lack of volunteers which is making the program’s sustainability difficult.
“Right now it’s based primarily on volunteers. We’re having some difficulty attracting and retaining (them). Our calls for service are increasing. It’s difficult in this day and age to attract and engage the number of volunteers required for that service and the demand,” he says.
In the last four months, the progam’s volunteers along with other staff contributed close to 4,000 hours of service to deal with a variety of files from serious incidents to court cases.
Mueller says the program is also helping out victims from other communities coming to the Kamloops courthouse or Royal Inland Hospital.
Mueller plans to speak at the city council meeting tomorrow, July 28 to ask mayor and council for a short-term loan to continue the program until the detachment determines how to continue the service.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015