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November 14, 2016 - 8:00 PM
KAMLOOPS - Residents of the Brocklehurst neighbourhood in Kamloops have had a chance to voice their concerns about crime in their community.
Nearly 70 people showed up to the meeting last Wednesday, Nov. 9 to speak with members of the Kamloops RCMP and the city's crime prevention coordinator Sandro Piroddi, which is an increase from the last time Piroddi held a meeting for Brock residents when 12 people showed up.
Ginette Bauer, chair of the Brock Community Association, says residents spoke out about issues in the area and they feel like their voices have been heard.
"I thought it went very well," Bauer says. "It was a success, we’re very happy with it."
This comes after a spike in property crime in Brock over the past year. RCMP addressed the public last month to discuss how residents can protect themselves and their property.
Kamloops RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller told residents they needed to begin reporting criminal activity to police instead of Facebook. But Bauer says an issue residents raised at last week's meeting was a lack of RCMP response to residents' complaints about crime.
"Some of them, from experience themselves, called 911 or the (RCMP) and no one returned their calls," Bauer says.
Bauer says RCMP officers present at the meeting were surprised to hear the complaint.
"They were actually very positive about it. They weren't upset, they were kind of shocked," Bauer says. "They said 'you know what, we need that kind of information.'"
More than anything, Bauer says, residents were taught the importance of crime prevention. They were told to keep outside lights on overnight, lock their cars at all times and take any valuables out of their vehicles.
Bauer says the meeting has sparked more interest for Block Watch groups in the neighbourhood.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2016