Downtown Kelowna aims for ’softer‘ security

Ron Seymour Kelowna Courier March 19

Members of the Downtown Patrol walk their last beat this week, to be replaced by a kinder and gentler squad of downtown ambassadors. The Downtown Kelowna Association has terminated its contract with Highland Security Group and has hired its own employees, who‘ll have a new-look uniform and a revised mandate. Instead of being dressed like security guards, they‘ll be outfitted in orange shirts and black pants. Instead of confronting drug dealers, they‘ll be more likely to paint over graffiti and direct tourists to the museum. “Our new group will have a softer look, for sure,” DKA executive director John Perrott said Tuesday. “We want them to look approachable and be more of ambassadors for the downtown.” Annual cost for the service will be about the same, Perrott said, at approximately $100,000, or one-fifth of the DKA‘s annual budget. The DKA is funded largely through a special tax applied to owners of downtown properties. Board members recently decided to end their month-to-month contract with Highland Security Group, which has operated the service for more than a year. Company owner Jonas Klippenstein could not be reached for comment Tuesday. When the DKA board considered the idea of providing a security and information service downtown several years ago, there was some debate as to what it should be called. “Some suggested Downtown Safety Patrol. But others thought as soon as you use the word ’Safety,‘ you immediately give the impression the downtown isn‘t safe,” said one longtime board member, “so we settled on Downtown Patrol.” Among other duties, the members of the Downtown Patrol tried to encourage panhandlers to move away from locations like bank machines, escorted people to their cars in the evening hours and reported instances of open drug use and dealing to the RCMP. “When the service first started, there were definitely some roles and responsibilities that had to be clarified and ironed out,” said RCMP Const. Julie Rattee. “But, since then, they‘ve been the eyes and ears for a lot of police work downtown. It‘s been a positive relationship.” The new service, which will have five employees to start, will be known as Downtown on Call.