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City of Penticton bylaw officers have been responding to a sharp uptick in calls, especially for community safety issues.
"I'm sure everyone is seeing more activity out and about," said Tina Siebert city bylaw manager. "I would say yes, there has been a lot of social nuisance calls to our office over the past month."
To be exact, they have received 244 "social nuisance in public" calls in the period between March 1 and May 13. Bylaw even created a new category for those types of calls this year, since they don't fall under classic "Good Neighbour" bylaw infringements.
It's called the "Community Safety/Security/Livability" category, and since it's new, Siebert doesn't have historical year-over-year data yet. But anecdotally, she said it's been a busy year.
"It's, you know, issues related to mental health, addictions, homelessness. And they're all quite individual, so we know a lot of the individuals that we're dealing with, we talk to them daily and we've built a rapport with them," Siebert said.
The calls include drug use and needle clean ups, as well as social issues in public.
In the same 2.5 month period, 47 "security functions" calls, 10 "check on welfare" calls and one "assist police services" calls were logged.
Under the Good Neighbour bylaw category over the same period last year, calls regarding "snow and rubbish removal" are up to 189 from 90, "nuisance and noise" calls are up from 14 to 28 and "private property maintenance" calls are down from 89 to 86.
Siebert said the warmer weather has a lot to do with the increase in activity.
"We do see a lot of new individuals, we have a lot of pickers coming to town, not regular local people that we see all the time," Siebert said. "But this time of year is when they start coming to Penticton. We have seen probably a bit more than years prior."
Two new community service bylaw officers have been hired this year specifically to have their boots on the ground and their presence known in the community.
"We want to make sure that individuals know that we are out there, and there are people that do care and that are watching," Siebert said. "And we want to make sure these people aren't committing crimes, and that people feel safe."
To report a bylaw issue, call bylaw at 250-490-2440.
