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Mayor's Task Force on Crime Reduction

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Addressing crime and safety is one of Council’s priorities, and one of the actions to advance this priority is the establishment of a safety task force with community stakeholder representatives. The Mayor’s Task Force on Crime Reduction will provide recommendations to Council on community-driven initiatives to reduce crime in Kelowna.

The Task Force: 

  • Reviewed relevant existing programs and services locally and in other relevant jurisdictions; 
  • Listened to the community and identify positive actions underway, gaps, challenges and issues; 
  • Reported back to Council with a summary of what was learned through the community review process; and 
  • Developed actionable recommendations related to crime and sense of safety in our community, drawing from the experiences of the members of the task force. 

The Task Force identified and prioritized the most impactful and actionable proposals with a vision to bring forward a balanced approach of tactical, strategic and aspirational recommendations that serve to: 

  • Enhance City efforts and deliver results for residents, neighbourhoods, and businesses, alike;
  • Increase and enable resident and business participation in effective crime reduction strategies;
  • Explore new partnerships locally and regionally;
  • Advance comprehensive housing, health, and enforcement-based approaches; and
  • Focus advocacy efforts on provincial and federal matters of importance to our community. 

Based on these considerations, the Task Force presented the following list of final recommendations to Council for consideration on May 27, 2024:

1.  Enhance Business Improvement Area (BIA) community safety programs

1.1  Support and enable BIA Ambassador/On-Call Programs.
1.2  Expand the Kelowna Gospel Mission Business Coaching Workshops.
1.3  Increase the use of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) through BIA Ambassadors and audits for business.
1.4  Renew and expand the Business CCTV Registry Program.
1.5  Increase RCMP police visibility in business districts, particularly foot patrol during peak periods.
1.6  Enhance support (i.e., funding advocacy and volunteerism) for restorative justice programs, as well as the use of restorative justice by police and businesses. 

2.  Increase resident engagement and education in crime prevention/reduction

2.1  Expand community programs: Increase community participation in the City's Block Connector Program, improve the ability of neighborhood associations to focus on community safety, explore a residential CCTV Registry Program, and support the RCMP to re-establish their Auxiliary Police and Speed Watch Programs.
2.2  Promote CPTED principles: Increase resident accessibility to, and use of, CPTED principles through neighborhood associations, Block Connectors, and building stratas.

3.  Increase support for treatment and recovery

3.1  Expand City social development grant programs to support existing treatment and recovery programs
3.2  Establish an incentive program that encourages and enables the development of treatment

4.  Partner with regional and provincial government and non-government organizations to establish Sobering & Assessment Centres (youth and adult) providing temporary sheltering (i.e., <24 hours) in a non-police-based site for people experiencing intoxication to enable timely pathways to care and wellness.

5.  Through partnerships, explore the creation of a full-continuum multi-care site offering co-located and culturally responsive social, health, housing, and employment supports to transition individuals in need from streets to self-sustainability.

6.  Advocate for continued follow-through on the 2022 Provincial Government Report, "Transforming Policing and Community Safety in BC", specifically recommendations enabling a tiered response to community concerns by different categories of police and public safety professionals. 

7.  Continue to advocate for measures that address repeat (property) offending and increase public confidence in the justice system.

7.1  Follow-through on the 2022 Provincial Government Report, "A Rapid Investigation into Repeat Offending and Random Stranger Violence in BC", including an interior region site like Redfish Healing Centre for Mental Health & Addiction for patients with complex mental health and substance use needs (Recommendation 5).
7.2  Significantly more BC Prosecution Service Crown Counsel in the Kelowna office; and
7.3  More effective bail outcomes.

Next Steps:

The Task Force recommendations were endorsed by Council. Staff have begun studying the costs and implications of implementing the Task Force recommendations, and will report back to Council with recommendations on how to further advance these initiatives.

Terms of Reference

Taskforce Members

Contact Us

Office of the City Clerk
250-269-8645
[email protected]