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April 30, 2018 - 12:12 PM
KAMLOOPS - The number of calls about panhandling received by bylaw enforcement has increased by 125 per cent in Kamloops.
Bylaw services manager John Ramsay presented the numbers at the city’s Community Safety Committee meeting today, April 30.
"Panhandling has increased quite significantly,” Ramsay says, explaining the calls increased from four in 2016 to 42 calls in 2017 in the fourth quarter.
Ramsay explained the calls are all public complaints and are not reports from bylaw officers. He says some of the complaints are coming from the city's intersections.
Coun. Kathy Sinclair asked Ramsay why there was such a significant increase from the number of calls last year.
“I think the public is more aware when these social issues are happening,” Ramsay says, adding RCMP and bylaw services have asked the public to call when they see these things happening.
“We have to keep in mind the numbers may look higher because we have asked more people to report it,” he says.
According to the report prepared for the safety committee, signs saying “No Panhandling” have been erected at major intersections including Columbia Street and Summit Drive, and Columbia Street and Notre Dame Drive.
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