Provincial jail urged for Central Okanagan

Don Plant  The Okanagan Saturday 2010-11-13 The Okanagan needs a jail and it should be built in the Kelowna area, says the city‘s top cop. Kelowna‘s RCMP cellblock is bursting with prisoners on weekends, prompting Supt. Bill McKinnon to weigh in on a controversy that has dogged Valley leaders for 15 years - where to locate a new stand-alone jail in the Southern Interior.  "It would make little sense, given the size of Kelowna and the number of cases and prisoners who come from our courthouse, to build (it) outside this district," he said Friday. "There‘s a real need, given the size of the three regions of the Okanagan."  Valley offenders serving less than two years and suspects awaiting trial are usually held at the Kamloops jail, more than two hours‘ drive from  Kelowna. Sheriff buses shuttle them to and from courthouses in Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton. Politicians in Lumby have pitched the community of 1,800 as the new home for an Okanagan jail, saying it would boost the local economy. However, building it there would do little to relieve pressure on the Valley‘s most populous area, McKinnon said. (more)