Policing initiative saw big results

In support of the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP Strategic Plan priority of Public Safety, the Detachment’s Targeted Policing Unit, which consists of officers from the Downtown Enforcement Unit, Prolific Offender Unit and Drug Section, worked together in uniform and in a covert plain clothes capacity to provide an enhanced policing presence downtown and in problem areas of Vernon.

The Enhanced Downtown Enforcement Initiative is a 6-day operation which utilizes the expertise of the Vernon North Okanagan Detachment’s Crime Analyst to identify crime series and priority offenders in order to focus resources in areas which will have the greatest impact on reducing crime. The police officers target a variety of policing issues including trespass/loitering, open drug use, street level drug trafficking, possession of weapons, compliance with court-imposed conditions and locating persons wanted on warrants of arrest.

The initiative was partly funded through the Special Investigation and Targeted Enforcement (SITE) program and was a huge success with an immediate impact on community safety said Sgt Dave Evans, of the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP Targeted Policing Unit.

SITE is a three-year pilot initiative of the British Columbia Ministry of Public Safety & Solicitor General to provide centralized funds for operational support to law enforcement agencies.

The success of the initiative was seen in the results with the team executing eighteen (18) arrest warrants and initiating ninety-seven (97) police investigations including:

• Four (4) new charges for breach of court-imposed conditions;
• One (1) charge of driving while prohibited;
• One (1) charge of obstruct a police officer;
• Thirteen (13) weapons seizures including tasers, bear spray, carbon fiber brass knuckles, and knives; and
• Five (5) possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking investigations including the seizure of over thirty (30) ounces of fentanyl, over ten (10) ounces of methamphetamine, over three (3) ounces of cocaine, over three hundred (300) believed to be prescription pills, as well as over $5,000 Canadian currency and other evidence of drug trafficking. These investigations are ongoing with anticipation of criminal charges.

The Vernon North Okanagan RCMP is committed to fostering safer communities through evidence based, targeted and collaborative enforcement.