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(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops has plans to give its bylaw officers more power and authority to arrest people, but it's waiting on the province to clear a path.

The switch from bylaw enforcement officer to "community service officer" began after it was announced in 2020.

It's part of a future plan to have them recognized as peace officers under provincial legislation, offering the authority to work as a lower-level police officer.

"I believe the last three years have proven our model to be the correct one, but we still are short in some of the powers needed to be truly a second level of policing," community and protective services director Byron McCorkell said in an emailed response to iNFOnews.ca last month. "Basically our staff are protected in their duties as a peace officer but they do not have the powers of a peace officer in law enforcement."

If a BC bylaw officer is assaulted on the job, the suspect can be charged for assaulting a peace officer, but that doesn't award them any enhanced authority.

McCorkell's model for Kamloops is aimed to mirror similar programs in the Prairies, where some municipalities can employ both community safety officers and traditional bylaw officers. They work "hand in glove" with Kamloops RCMP, but without the extra authority, they are limited in their enforcement.

In Alberta, a community safety officer, or peace officer, can arrest a person wanted on a warrant or when a criminal offence is caught, according to Alberta's policies. They can respond to traffic collisions and write reports, along with responding to non-urgent property crimes.

They also require law enforcement training and carry a baton and pepper spray while on duty.

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Vancouver hosts the one exception in BC where the Vancouver Police Department employs special municipal constables. They perform lower risk tasks, like scene security and traffic enforcement.

McCorkell told council at a previous meeting the goal of the community service officer program had long been to have them designated as peace officers, but that decision has rested solely with staff so far and was never voted on publicly.

Former councillor Denis Walsh, however, said McCorkell's decision to shift the bylaw department into the community services division was done without a vote and he was "blindsided" when he first read of the department's restructuring through media. It was also done while the top staffer at the city, chief administrative officer David Trawin, was on leave and McCorkell was filling in.

"Peace officers had not been discussed or voted on in council. That's (McCorkell)'s pet project," Walsh said. "We're just watching this unfold as the way (McCorkell) intends it to."

At the time, and still today, Walsh had no set position on whether the enhanced authority is the right move for the City's bylaw department. He was concerned the restructuring was done without consultation with council and done through staff, even without consulting Trawin beforehand, according to Walsh.

Walsh was told the restructuring was done within the budget already set for the bylaw department, but he said it "fundamentally" changed how bylaws are enforced and should have been discussed with council first.

Trawin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Most of the current council expressed their support for the move to peace officers during a May 9 meeting. There was, however, some concern with the planned changes to their powers.

"I think we need to be clear with the public that this council has not made any decisions in terms of (community service officers) becoming peace officers," Coun. Nancy Bepple said. "In terms of this council, there has never been a discussion. There may be individuals who support that. There may be recommendations from staff or RCMP, but in terms of what has been decided, that is not where we're at."

Her comments came as council discussed creating a community policing select committee, proposed by Coun. Katie Neustaeter. The conversation was centred around "social disorder," as Neustaeter wrote in her proposal, related to the drug crisis, mental health issues and property crime in Kamloops.

It quickly turned from a discussion about creating a committee to the evolution of the community service officer program. Most councillors supported the planned peace officer designations.

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"This is bringing into our control and into our own domain who we can hire and how we can provide safety on the street," Coun. Mike O'Reilly said. "We do have housing issues, we have mental health issues and we have open drug use, we have speeding issues and we have basic criminal offence issues that, to me, the RCMP shouldn't be dealing with little things."

The community service officer program has been wrought with hold-ups and controversy since it was announced, with the City still waiting on an arbitrator's decision after its union challenged the restructuring. It also hasn't maintained enough staff to reach its goal of patrolling Kamloops 24/7, despite plans since 2021.

For now, they work 16 hours per day, with one dedicated officer to patrol with outreach workers and tend to social issues and homelessness.

Other BC cities have started their own teams offering a similar model as Kamloops.

Penticton and Maple Ridge, for example, have community safety officers. Those officers don't replace bylaw officers, but offer a third tier of policing, somewhere between bylaw and police.

The City of Richmond is also in the process of adding its own community safety officer, exploring ways to have their officers designated as peace officers too, Coun. Kash Heed told iNFOnews.ca.

McCorkell expects the increased authority to come with changes to BC's Police Act, which are currently underway, but it's not clear how long that will take.

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