Downtown Kamloops introduced to street level ambassadors

KAMLOOPS – The Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association has a new team of street ambassadors.

The Customer Care and Patrol team is made up of 11 red capped 19- to 25-year-olds are taking to the streets to help tourists and increase safety downtown, business association manager Gay Pooler says.

“To have a successful downtown the number one thing is clean and safe,” Pooler says. “The CAP team being the first point of contact with a lot of our visitors, they give that whole friendly face and giving information.”

She says another benefit is the additional eyes and ears on the ground for bylaw officers and the RCMP.

Thompson Rivers University marketing student Ali Webster is a part of the team for a second year. She says her interest in tourism led her to the job but community safety is also a central focus.

City officials and business community members also spoke about the importance of the CAP team to downtown Kamloops at a media conference to introduce the team today, May 16.

RCMP Const. George Buttuls says the team is valuable as it’s the worst year he’s seen in downtown Kamloops for homelessness and the extra eyes on the ground help police observe any issues.

Pooler thanked all the supporters of the team, including Shirt Productions who donated $15,000 to the business association. The production company was behind the Power Rangers movie, which was shooting in the city's downtown last month.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.