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Penticton  

Crime, drugs on camera

Adam Power is fed up with the criminal activity he witnesses from his Nanaimo Square office window every day, and he's decided to try to do something about it by sharing the deeds online.

Whenever he sees illegal activity in the square, he plans to record it and share it in local social media groups. 

"I just hope that we can start some real enforcement of the rules that are actually already in place," Power said. "We need to attack those problems."

Power is the CEO of Local Security, a security company in Penticton. He says he has nothing against the homeless population in general, but he sees the same group of troublemakers every day in Nanaimo Square who keep returning.

"Even if they're openly committing crimes, consuming alcohol, fighting, selling drugs, and prostitution happens behind our electrical box, they use the shielding of the electrical box at the south entrance," Power said. "The problem is the troublemakers, the repeat offenders, that's the problem here."

Power has nothing but respect for bylaw officers and police officers, but was disappointed earlier this month when a man caught trying to break in to his building was spotted on the street the next day.

"That same gentleman just walked by our building, so obviously he had been catch and release," Power said. "He was arrested and was back out on the street the next day."

Fed up, Power posted a video in the local Penticton Facebook group Friday shot from his office window that appears to show a drug deal happening in broad daylight. Responses were mixed, with some commenters objecting to the video, but Power says this is what's necessary to make change happen. 

"It is not acceptable to consume amphetamines or sell drugs in my backyard, and the goal is to make criminal activity stop," he said. "There are specific people that are known prolific troublemakers and they are shameless in the way that they act downtown, and it needs to stop. It's not a safe place to be."

Power is amping up his surveillance of the area, planning to share the footage with both RCMP and the public.

"We're putting up HD artificial intelligence powered cameras all around the building and they're going to start logging this activity so they can capture all of it, not just what I can see from my window," Power said. "We've been told for quite some time that there's an issue with under-reporting, so we're trying to do our part and we're trying to develop an app with the city that would allow people to really easily file a report."

He said it's frustrating that a few bad apples are ruining the public's perception of the homeless, transient and addicted community. 

"Ninety-nine per cent of the population that I interact with feel the exact same way about giving people a helping hand, helping the downtrodden, and kicking the butts of the people that are the troublemakers because they are ruining it for the rest of us." 



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