Butcher, exacto knives, switchblades, and a machete are just some of the weapons found in clean-up sweeps in Williams Lake.
The Williams Lake Business Association’s Clean Team and the City of Williams Lake Clean Teams say they are finding a near record level of weapons in their homeless camps and downtown sweeps.
“We’re starting to see it more and more now,” says Rob Warnock, Director of Municipal Services for the City of Williams Lake. Warnock said the most recent number of weapons, including a machete, was found at the 7–11 near Proctor Street.
“The [Business Association’s] Clean Team found these items just lying around where kids could pick them up.”
It is one of the many concerns the communities of Williams Lake are having with the growing crime rate and issues with the unhoused. Lake City residents are commenting on City Councillors’ and the City’s social media posts sharing personal stories of how their being affected. Asking for more aggressive actions to be done.
For Warnock, he has had to adjust the team numbers and crews due to the increased number of weapons being found, and increased encounters they are experiencing.
“It is very concerning because we’ve just had all our summer students start work this week. For us to be finding this stuff is very disturbing. We work in twos now, I can’t send people out by themselves anymore because I’m just afraid for their safety.”
Williams Lake is not the only municipality that has seen upswings in their crime rate in 2025. Kamloops, Prince George, Chilliwack, and Kelowna also report higher crime rates. Warnock is concerned with how fast Williams Lake’s rates a growing, saying he is expecting this year to be worse than last year.
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