Bylaw officers want more hours

By Vernon Daily Courier staff Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The city‘s bylaw division is recommending increasing staff hours as a solution to concerns about keeping downtown safe. A report being presented to council Tuesday suggests spending almost $18,000 to make its three part-time bylaw officers full-time employees to ensure staff is available seven days a week for the rest of the year. It also recommends monitoring early morning safety concerns to determine if there‘s a need for staff to start before 7 a.m. In the report, Clint Kanester, manager of bylaw enforcement, said there‘s a perception of a lack of safety and security downtown, even though RCMP, bylaw and the Safe Communities unit are working together on the issue. “Due to the work of these partners, crime statistics indicate a substantial reduction in criminal activity within this area and many problematic offenders are no longer seen frequenting the area.” In August the Downtown Vernon Association asked the city to pay for continued security provided by commissionaires in the downtown core. Council decided to see what its own staff could be doing, and requested a joint report from RCMP and bylaw enforcement.

Coun. Juliette Cunningham said the recommendation is a good compromise. “I think that‘s reasonable and that‘s what we had suggested – that the bylaw officers could cover some of those peak times and the bylaw (officers) have more authority to do things than commissionaires.” The commissionaires were hired by the DVA to provide extra security for downtown staff and shoppers, particularly in the early morning and evening hours in areas such as alleys and parks. In the report, Kanester said “employee escort service to vehicles is unrealistic given the current resources and are above and beyond even that recently provided through all security partners.” The report outlines four other possible solutions, which include lengthening parkade security hours, adding one additional part-time bylaw officer, funding the commissionaires program and adding three more full-time staff in addition to increased hours for the three existing bylaw officers.