Vernon’s Downtown Mobile Security Patrol has already recorded 499 observations in the past six weeks, compared to 796 files in its five-month run last summer.
The unit began its daily patrols of the business improvement areas (BIA) on May 1, 2021, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., focusing on alleys, downtown parks, bus exchanges and public washrooms.
Between that start day and June 13, 499 observations were recorded — all of them linked to street entrenched persons (Street Entrenched Person Target Analysis).
Security recorded 294 observations linked to overnighting on benches, in lanes or loitering in and around the public washrooms, while the remaining 205 observations were recorded on private property where individuals were overnighting in alcoves and private parking spaces adjacent to lanes.
Five incidents were reported to emergency services and three calls were made to RCMP regarding drug use, suspicious activity and a suspicious vehicle.
Vernon Fire Rescue Services was dispatched once for burning material in an alleyway.
The City of Vernon Operations were called, too, for one call of service to repair a broken water main.
Security will add regular patrols of the 2900 block of 30th Avenue to its checklist when it closes to traffic for more than nine weeks.
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