‘Night and day’: Rutlander wants same response as downtown business owners

When downtown Kelowna business owners complained about crime and homelessness, the police called a press conference, the city arranged a forum for them and MLAs are hosting a town hall.

It’s been a swift response, one being noticed in Rutland which has been stomping its feet with many of the same complaints and concerns about break-ins, theft, drug use, homeless camps and general lawlessness for years.

Christopher Bocskei is on the board of the Rutland Residents Association and formed a popular Facebook group for locals to share reports and discuss crime. He didn’t see Rutland mentioned in the response at all.

“It’s just night and day,” he said. “How do we need to communicate with the police about what’s going on? It’s obvious if you just drive down the road.”

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He said businesses in Rutland are struggling and he isn’t surprised to see vacant shopfronts around Highway 33.

“Look at that area. It’s devastated. That’s our business community in Rutland. We’ve got people setting up camps, smoking crack pipes,” he said.

Supt. Chris Goebel said at a press conference on Jan. 13 that the RCMP is going to listen to businesses in Rutland and continue targeted enforcement operations in the neighbourhood, while downtown is supposed to get more patrols.

Bocskei said he hasn’t seen more effort from police to patrol the area.

“I don’t see a difference in the police presence. In fact, I’ve seen zero increase in police presence,” he said.

Bocskei said in recent weeks someone threw a rock at his head while he was walking his dogs. The man had blocked the sidewalk and when Bocskei walked by, he threw the rock.

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He said he called the RCMP non-emergency line several times and didn’t get through.

“I was on hold for over 20 minutes. No response. No callback. Like, OK, if we’re going to report a crime, it has to be easier. It has to be easier to have more public access. And there has to be more accountability from the police,” he said. “I gave up because the phone wasn’t answered. How many other people are doing that?”

Bocskei said he can see where the aggression on the street is coming from when the homeless population is growing faster than the support to help them off the street.

“I was homeless when I was very young… we didn’t harass the public. We stayed out of the public’s way,” he said. “Now we see a group that has been on the streets so long, they’re entrenched. Nothing’s been done to move their situation along… Maybe they’re angry, maybe they’re just making their claim.”

He’s planning to set up his own town hall meeting so Rutland residents and businesses can have the same platform and opportunity to share their concerns as those downtown.

“We’d like to see a place that’s safe for our kids to go and get milk at the store without being escorted,” he said.

The city’s town hall is planned for Jan. 27 at the Kelowna Community Theatre and the Kelowna MLAs are hosting a town hall on Feb. 5 at Revelry to hear people’s concerns about crime downtown.