A ‘Response to Threats to Public Safety’ motion will have the Williams Lake City Council look into options to declare a State of Emergency.
The motion, put forward by Councillor Scott Nelson, is in response to the rise in crime rates in Williams Lake, concerning the community.
The Williams Lake communities across social media sites have posted incidents of vandalism, open drug use, fires in front of businesses, theft, public indecency and defecation, and other forms of vandalism.
Councillor Nelson’s recommendation he’s putting forward is that the Williams Lake City Council look at the option to call a State of Emergency across the city.
“Things have gotten so crazy, so out of control. Our resources are depleted in terms of what’s taken place in the community,” says Councillor Nelson, on why he has put the motion forward to ‘investigate options’ to install a curfew.
“A curfew, which basically says that anybody that’s on the streets after 11 o’clock will be checked. If intoxicated, drunk, or on drugs — you’re going to jail. If there is a sense where they think that you may have mental illnesses, we’re gonna be taking to the hospital and asking for involuntary treatment. We’re looking to do a clean sweep of the streets, get the streets back under control.”
Nelson’s proposed curfew would have the curfew in place starting from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., and run in collaboration with RCMP and local stakeholders, with increased patrols.
In the motion, the Councillor writes that Williams Lake does not have the facilities, and ‘in desperate need for warparound services.’ Part of the recommendation is for Interior Health be ‘responsible for transporting’ individuals who are caught and determined to need involuntary care to a suitable facility ‘without delay.’
On May 23, Interior Health issued an Overdose Alert across Williams Lake, due to high levels of overdose calls emergency services.
“In the last two days, we’re having between 20 and 30 overdoses and later the RCMP or the front lines with the emergency ambulance and services, things are not normal. Interior Health is overwhelmed,” says Nelson. Adding the provincial government’s stances on crime and drugs has depleted resources to handle the issues.
“People are fearful for what’s going on in our community, and because the province has failed the communities across the province so badly, the communities have to start looking after themselves… I apologize if some of these homeless people end up in jail or end up in involuntary care, but that’s the position that we’re gonna be moving forward with, hopefully.”
This motion is being put forward to Council a month after a special meeting to hear the public’s concerns over crime was held. At that meeting, a motion was put forward and carried that had the City allocate $100,000 out of the reserves for an additional police patrol in the downtown core.
The motion will be discussed and first read in Tuesday, May 27’s Regular Council Meeting.
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