Williams Lake Mayor and Council have submitted a letter to the Province calling for the reinstatement of the electronic monitoring program that provides an electronic bracelet or anklet for offenders to wear.
“Obivisiouly we recognize that crime is a significant issue in our community,” says Councillor Scott Nelson.
“One of the things that we found out is there is a recurring problem with people on bail, curfew, or probation, and what would happen is that they would not be there when RCMP would do the checks on them.”
The Williams Lake RCMP completed 842 curfew checks on various offenders from February 2017 to December 2017 in which a number of them revealed the offender to be non-compliant.
“We’re not talking about a kid that steals a chocolate bar,” says Nelson.
“We’re talking about one of these prolific offenders that has in excess of 50 to 100 charges that is reoccurring that doesn’t care about Williams Lake, doesn’t care about its’ residents, and simply doesn’t care about what’s going on and has no regard for law.”
In the letter unanimously signed by Council to BC’s Attorney General and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, the City of Williams Lake also expresses grave concerns regarding this month’s “slap on the wrist for the criminals arrested for breaking and entering into homes and committing theft during the wildfire evacuations last summer.”
“Williams Lake residents have worked hard to combat crime in our community, and have come together to strive toward becoming a crime-free community,” said Mayor Walt Cobb in a news release.
“We have increased resources, including installing additional security cameras and have changed policies and bylaws to provide the RCMP with extra tools. We have increased policing to full capacity, with the Province providing an additional six RCMP officers. The Community Policing volunteers have become a model for other communities in this province. During the evacuation, residents were significantly stressed, and sensitive to what happened during this crisis. For thieves to take advantage of this situation should not be tolerated.”