The 98th Annual edition of the Williams Lake Stampede has wrapped up for another year.
Williams Lake RCMP Staff Sargeant Brad McKinnon said he was glad to report that it was a very successful and safe event.
“Very few issues from a policing perspective,” McKinnon said, “We are grateful to all the men and women who came in to help us with that, all first responders, as well the great show and performances put on by the Williams Lake Stampede Association. We have a wonderful relationship with that group of individuals and we’re proud to contribute to keeping the event safe.”
McKinnon said there were a lot of people in town, it was great environment and it was a hugely successful event, very, very few issues and I’m very pleased with the outcome.
“We are getting better how we manage and plan for this event,” McKinnon said, “How we deploy our resources, the things we do leading up to it, the things that we do during it. We try to take the approach to this that it’s a celebratory event and we want our police officers to be aware that we want people out having fun and we exercise a lot of discretion.”
McKinnon noted that they are not out to nail people, we’re just out to keep people safe and ensure that people know where those boundaries lie and we want them to have a good time.
“It was a very busy 4 days but again from a policing perspective the event went off without a hitch, and that’s a testament to our relationship with the community and the Stampede Association and our operational plans that we put in place for these events,” McKinnon said.
Something going on in the Cariboo you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing cariboonews@vistaradio.ca.
