(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
October 26, 2015 - 1:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - There may be a new drunk tank in Kamloops by next year if a planned sober housing project moves forward.
Kamloops RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller says members of the detachment have partnered with Royal Inland Hospital and Interior Health to develop a plan for a sober housing location.
With beds and medical personnel instead of concrete benches and jail guards, Mueller says the location will differ from the cells at the RCMP detachment and will provide a better opportunity for intervention and professional help.
“I think we’ve identified a need to have that type of facility where you have medical personnel who can give a referral to treatment after they’ve sobered up,” Mueller says. “We do speak to them, but we find that there’s a very small window usually with that. If there is a willingness to accept treatment, we need to be able to action that.”
Mueller says many of those spending evenings in the city’s drunk tank are regulars.
As for the location of where the centre could be, Mueller said it was too early to comment at this time. If all goes according to plan, he says the location could be open by spring of next year.
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