(ASHLEY LEGASSIC / iNFOnews.ca)

Street issues in Kamloops are costing businesses both time and money as they've grappled with trespassing, vandalism, theft and public defecation since 2018.

Kamloops business associations asked 1,500 business owners how they've been impacted by social issues over the last four years in a self-reported survey. The 8% that responded to the survey said the social problems in the city have cost them a total of $1 million.

The North Shore Business Improvement Association released the results of the survey in a report Friday, April 22.

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"Business owners are not only struggling with economic challenges of today such as attracting and retaining labour, supply chain disruptions, the rising cost of business and inflation, in addition to taxation," the report reads. "They are also suffering from a crisis of confidence in our community’s ability to manage our criminal and social disruptions."

The North Shore association collaborated with the Downtown Kamloops Business Improvement Association and the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce to conduct the survey.

Out of the 128 respondents, 65 businesses are downtown and 54 are in North Kamloops, and most have operated in Kamloops for more than 10 years.

"We can speak with a degree of confidence based on the breadth of businesses that these findings are reflective across the business spectrum," the report notes, despite the small turnout of respondents.

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The businesses that responded represent a variety of industries in Kamloops, including retail, restaurants, social services, construction and professional services. While trespassing and loitering were their top issues, they noted several other impacts like open drug use and needles near the business, vandalism, defecation and harassment.

Along with the costs associated with social issues in Kamloops, businesses that responded have spent a total of more than $1.1 million on crime prevention efforts in the last year, averaging around $9,100 each.

The City of Kamloops has transitioned its bylaw department into community service officers, which are meant to help deal with social issues related to drug use and homelessness. However, around half of the respondents said they do not call community services officers at all because they "can't do much."

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A third of the businesses have, however, called RCMP in the last year. The report notes that business owners are overall happy with the response from police, compared to the bylaw officer, but they are concerned with an apparent lack of "criminal accountability."

The report notes that mental illness, homelessness and drug use are "complex" issues, with government and social service agencies working to address them. However, the results show that while dealing with social issues in Kamloops is a complex undertaking, the impact and costs for local businesses are simple and measurable.

"We must see this data as the starting point," the report reads. "It is an indicator that we need to do more, we need to respond better, listen better, act better, be better for all of our community."

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