Police are now following up with residents of Westshore Estates near Vernon after concerns over long response times to 911 calls.
According to area resident Gord Ross, police took more than two hours to respond to at least two 911 calls placed on Sept. 7.
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Ross says he called RCMP in Vernon after a party got out of control, a man was allegedly assaulted and two vehicles were smashed into by an old collectors pick-up.
Const. Kelly Brett says Sgt. Thiessen of the North Okanagan Rural RCMP office is currently working with Ross and the residents to resolve the issue that took place two Fridays ago.
While Ross explains that he called 911 and asked for the Vernon detachment, it was officers from Enderby that responded nearly two hours later.
“North Westside Road is the jurisdiction of the North Okanagan RCMP and any calls for service in that area are attended to by members of the Integrated Rural Detachments, which include Armstrong, Enderby and Falkland,” said Brett, in response to Ross.
Officers were responding to a hit-and-run call at the Westshore Estates on Sept. 7, says Brett.
“While en route, a call of an armed robbery in progress in Armstrong was received and members were re-routed. It wasn’t until the higher priority call was dealt with when members were able to respond to the Westside Road incident,” she explained.
However, according to Ross the incident was much more than a hit and run as he described belligerent and alleged drunk behaviour by several people outside his home that evening.
Ross is furious that no one from the station called him back to say there would be a long wait for police help, as he and his neighbours continued to watch the incident take place.
The North Okanagan RCMP is currently looking into the two events, including response times and follow up by the officers.
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