(MARSHALL JONES / iNFOnews.ca)

B.C. RCMP headquarters is looking to expand its tactical Emergency Response Team to a full-time squad in Kelowna.

Emergency Response Teams work on a part-time basis in most of the province, but Surrey-based 'E' Division is going to present a plan to the provincial government that would expand that team in Kelowna, B.C.'s largest Interior city.

It would likely include a dedicated dog team and bomb squad, according to a City of Kamloops news release.

Kamloops mayor Ken Christian "requested an update" on a full-time tactical team in Kamloops from E Division brass at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whistler, according to the release.

In that discussion, B.C. RCMP agreed with Christian that "part-time ERTs are not successful," the release reads.

B.C. RCMP staffs ERT officers in the region on a part-time basis from detachments throughout the Southeast District, including Kamloops and Kelowna.

That includes 18 officers across the region, according to a 2021 City of Kamloops report.

The team responds to the most dangerous calls a police detachment handles, including hostage situations and serious crime arrest warrants, according to the B.C. RCMP website.

It can also assist in investigations across jurisdictions and municipal boundaries.

B.C. RCMP has four ERTs, including one for Vancouver Island, Northern B.C. and the Lower Mainland. The Lower Mainland team is the only full-time squad in the province, covering a jurisdiction from Pemberton to Hope.

iNFOnews.ca asked B.C. RCMP in July for a tallied list of 2022 ERT responses in cities across the Southeast District.

The detachment did not provide those details without an Access to Information and Privacy request, but a spokesperson did say the tactical team was dispatched to Kamloops four times from January to the end of July.

ERT was dispatched to Kamloops at least once more in August.

The City of Kamloops news release did not say when B.C. RCMP would present its business case for the full-time Kelowna squad to the provincial government.

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