RCMP want graffiti bylaw

Wayne Moore -May 26, 2009 CASTANET:
Kelowna's top cop believes the city needs a bylaw to make it harder for minors to purchase graffiti implements. Superintendent, Bill McKinnon, told City Council Monday that graffiti continues to be a major problem within the city, saying its only getting worse. During his bi-monthly report to City Council, McKinnon urged Councillors to approach the problem in one of two ways. "One, I would like to see either a city bylaw put in place to deal with the purchase and furnishing of graffiti materials, or a letter of support from this council to the provincial government asking that they put in place legislation to deal with the purchase of paint by minors in the community," says McKinnon. He says these measures won't solve the problems but believes they will help in preventing the amount of graffiti spreading throughout the city. Similar bylaws are in place in Winnipeg and Oshawa, Ontario, however, McKinnon says not many B.C. communities have adopted such measures. Council did pass a motion asking staff to investigate such a bylaw while also forwarding a letter to Victoria, asking that the province look at enacting similar legislation. Mayor Sharon Shepherd, added the graffiti eradication coordinator position, which has been vacant for about a year, has now been filled. "We should start seeing some action around the community once that individual gets their understanding of the system," says Shepherd.

Meantime, McKinnon says RCMP throughout the Okanagan were not as busy during the first three months of 2009 as they were through the same period in 2008. He told Council that calls for service for the first three months of 2009 were down 6% in Kelowna compared to 2008. "It's a pattern we've noticed across the province and particularly here in the Okanagan." While service calls were down from 14,837 during the first quarter of 2008 to 14,069 in 2009, McKinnon says the decline is even more dramatic in other centres. McKinnon says calls for service fell 20% in Penticton, 17% in Vernon and 12% in Kamloops.

"We tried to come up with reasons as to why the calls for service were down, is it what we are doing and so forth. I came up with four explainable reasons why we think calls for service are down in the area," says McKinnon.

These include:

• Crime reduction strategies are more effective. The target teams, downtown enforcement units and targeting prolific offenders are all working.
  
• PRIME is having an impact because things are not being written up that were previously
  
• Economy. Some bars, nightclubs and lounges are struggling. People are picking up a case of beer or a bottle of liquor and going home
  
• The weather. We probably had the longest winter we ever had here and the weather does have an impact.

McKinnon adds that once the weather warmed up a few weeks ago, he has noticed an upward spike in calls for service.