Time is running out for the Downtown Vernon Association patrol.The 60-day trial period for the patrol runs out Jan. 23, but it could become a more permanent fixture in the city centre.DVA executive director Earl 
Hansen said the board of directors will meet later this month to look at the program.Hansen said there is also the possibility of downtown businesses partnering with the DVA to help pay for the continuation of the program and that option is being explored.Hansen said the patrols were initiated following concerns of an increase in unsavoury activity in the downtown area.Two patrollers were hired to walk the streets in the morning when workers are arriving in the city centre, and again in the late afternoon and early evening.Hansen said there have been some businesses who are asking for help in certain areas and the DVA “will try to follow up, but resources are limited.”Danny Montgomery, Cucina Classics owner, had praise for the patrol and said he would like to see it continue.“It’s nice to see them, but at this time of year it’s a quiet time for that type of element,” said Montgomery who is in his third year of operating the eatery that is across from Cenotaph Park.Montgomery said he is grateful the patrols are out there, but would like to see them continue in the summer when the transient population is most active.Vernon Flower Shop owner Mary Spoor said she would like to see more patrols all the time.Spoor said she has noticed a marked increase in drug dealing and other illegal activities recently and said the only time the activity decreases is when the patrollers are around.“When they’re here, they seem to move the people along, but as soon as they’re gone the people come back,” said Spoor who has owned the downtown business for 30 years.Patroller Al Harrison admits that when the patrol leave an area the seedier element tends to come back, but he feels they are making a difference.“I think we’ve connected with the homeless, we’ve connected with people on the street,” he said, adding most of them realize the patrollers are just doing their jobs when they ask people to move along.Harrison said if the patrollers treat the street community with respect, they are treated with respect in return.He added the some of the street people also feel safer knowing the patrollers are watching over themHansen said overall the patrols have made the downtown core a safer place.
Hansen said the board of directors will meet later this month to look at the program.Hansen said there is also the possibility of downtown businesses partnering with the DVA to help pay for the continuation of the program and that option is being explored.Hansen said the patrols were initiated following concerns of an increase in unsavoury activity in the downtown area.Two patrollers were hired to walk the streets in the morning when workers are arriving in the city centre, and again in the late afternoon and early evening.Hansen said there have been some businesses who are asking for help in certain areas and the DVA “will try to follow up, but resources are limited.”Danny Montgomery, Cucina Classics owner, had praise for the patrol and said he would like to see it continue.“It’s nice to see them, but at this time of year it’s a quiet time for that type of element,” said Montgomery who is in his third year of operating the eatery that is across from Cenotaph Park.Montgomery said he is grateful the patrols are out there, but would like to see them continue in the summer when the transient population is most active.Vernon Flower Shop owner Mary Spoor said she would like to see more patrols all the time.Spoor said she has noticed a marked increase in drug dealing and other illegal activities recently and said the only time the activity decreases is when the patrollers are around.“When they’re here, they seem to move the people along, but as soon as they’re gone the people come back,” said Spoor who has owned the downtown business for 30 years.Patroller Al Harrison admits that when the patrol leave an area the seedier element tends to come back, but he feels they are making a difference.“I think we’ve connected with the homeless, we’ve connected with people on the street,” he said, adding most of them realize the patrollers are just doing their jobs when they ask people to move along.Harrison said if the patrollers treat the street community with respect, they are treated with respect in return.He added the some of the street people also feel safer knowing the patrollers are watching over themHansen said overall the patrols have made the downtown core a safer place.
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