Resolutions<\/a> on the union\u2019s roster include:<\/p>\nRegional Approach to Homelessness<\/p>\n
Continue Funding Programs for Local Poverty Reduction Initiatives<\/p>\n
Strategy for Rehabilitation, Homelessness and Public Safety<\/p>\n
Housing Requires Urgent Action<\/p>\n
Addressing Repeat Offenders<\/p>\n
Victim Services Program Funding<\/p>\n
Health and Wellbeing of BC\u2019s Public Safety Personnel<\/p>\n
Homeless Encampments within City Limits on Provincial Land<\/p>\n
Supportive Housing Targets and Treatment<\/p>\n
Creation of Regional Crime Prevention Officer Positions for Rural BC<\/p>\n
Release of Prolific Offenders in Communities<\/p>\n
Sharing Fentanyl Precursors Information with Law Enforcement<\/p>\n
Regional Approach to Homelessness<\/p>\n
Catch and Release of Repeat Offenders<\/p>\n
He explains that many, if not all, the issues fall under the umbrella of health care, justice and housing \u2014 three portfolios that belong to the provincial and federal government. He\u2019s calling on both to step up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the province and the federal government have dropped the ball when it comes to public safety over a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ketchum offers increased funding as part of the solution, and understands the provincial coffers are bare after Victoria posted a $11.6 billion deficit last week, one that\u2019s expected to worsen next year and balloon to $12.6 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the province and the federal government have dropped the ball when it comes to public safety over a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
SOS says, more than ever, addiction, mental health and prevention need to be a priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to have easy access to detox treatment and long-term recovery. People have to be assessed properly when, well, many of them who have committed crimes to support their addictions, these people need to be assessed to determine whether they are suffering from an addiction and to go into the health-care system, and they should be able to access that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ketchum says the slow wheels of the justice system are also part of the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur arrest-to-charge rate in British Columbia is the lowest in Canada, and it\u2019s dropped 40 per cent in the last decade. One of the reasons for that is the lack of prosecutors. What that means is cases don\u2019t get heard. What that means is police are more hesitant about taking charges forward if they feel like they\u2019re not going to be acted on. What it means is the public loses faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says, regardless of whether posted crime statistics are up or down, people don\u2019t feel safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are people who fear for their own safety or that of their families in their own communities. We\u2019ve had enough. We can\u2019t let this go any further. People\u2019s lives are at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to money, SOS says municipalities need a plan for continued care for those dealing with mental health and addiction, a faster-moving justice system, and he\u2019s calling for more police officers, especially in so-called crime hot spots.<\/p>\n
The UBCM is being held in Victoria until Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) gets underway, its agenda is intensely focused on public disorder and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-163037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}