Mayor says city taking action to shutter controversial North Shore drop-in centre

Photo: Kristen Holliday

The Loop on Tranquille Road was the site of a fight, allegedly involving "a vigilante," on Thursday morning.

The city is taking action to close down The Loop Community Resource Centre after a fight erupted outside the Tranquille Road facility on Thursday morning.

Mayor Ken Christian told Castanet Kamloops the process of closing down the drop-in centre is “ongoing” as of Thursday morning.

“These behaviours are not welcome on Tranquille. They are not welcome on the North Shore. And as a result, that facility will be closed,” Christian said.

Christian said community services officers and responded to The Loop on Thursday morning as a result of the disturbance.

Videos posted to social media show a fight erupting between one man and a number of other individuals outside The Loop’s location on Tranquille Road, with a community service officer attempting to break up the altercation.

At one point, one man appears to be punched multiple times and then hit with a motorcycle helmet.

“We had a [community services officer] in a very precarious situation this morning. We had to call a mayday, and have additional CSO units as well as the police attend. I commend the action of both that single officer as well as the response from the police and the CSO team, and they diffused what could have been a very dangerous situation,” Christian said.

Kamloops RCMP’s Const. Crystal Evelyn said police received a report of a fight outside a location on the 400-block of Tranquille Road about 7:40 a.m.

“Frontline officers attended and numerous people scattered. An investigation revealed the fight to be consensual with no injuries of property damage reported,” Evelyn said, adding no weapons were reported.

Evelyn said a consensual fight can be defined as a fight in which both parties choose to take part.

The property housing The Loop was designated a nuisance property by the City of Kamloops in May. Christian said conditions in the area have not improved since then.

“The issue has been escalating in the wrong direction since we declared it a nuisance property, and the City of Kamloops doesn’t take those actions lightly,” Christian said.

“When we declare a property a nuisance property, it’s our expectation that we will work with the operator to gain compliance and make things better in the neighbourhood. And in this case, it was going in the wrong direction.”

In regards to Thursday morning’s incident, Glenn Hilke, The Loop’s program coordinator, said a “vigilante” showed up at The Loop.

“They began assaulting and threatening our staff, people that were there for services at The Loop,” Hilke said.

“The RCMP and bylaws let that perpetrator go without apprehending him.”

Hilke said the city has recently cut funding to The Loop, and he has now been told by the city that The Loop’s business licence would be suspended so it won’t be able to operate.

“I told them that we did not accept that, nor respect that. We have no documentation about that, we have no reason being given to us, nothing in writing,” Hilke said.

“Until we get something in writing, we’re going to continue to provide services to some of our most vulnerable members in the community.”

Hilke said the action from the city is misdirected.

“It’s going against the people from the community that need the services. They’re taking all their personal belongings, some of them without them being present, or getting notice that their personal belongings are being taken,” Hilke said.