CITY'S SGT. PEPPERS PACKING EXTRA PUNCH

With more criminals spending more time in jail and less time on the city's
streets, Vernon's top cop seems surprised that people are still fearful of
crime.

Insp. Steve McVarnock said the police, B.C. Commissionaires and city bylaw
officers need to keep working together to erase the public perception that
downtown Vernon is dangerous.

"There's not one thing that's going to be the magic pill," he said. "I'm
very optimistic that it's going to work."

McVarnock said the downtown is already safe and with the current crime
reduction strategies in place, prolific criminals are spending less time on
the streets and more time in jail. "We're letting the public know that
Vernon is in fact a safe place," he said.

The next move to ease public fears is to train the city's bylaw officers to
become a front-line presence, McVarnock said. They will soon be receiving
law enforcement training to deal with criminal activity and will carry the
tools of the trade including batons, handcuffs and pepper spray, but no
sidearms.

On a daily basis we'll be getting out on foot with them," he said. "These
bylaw officers will be tasked with a front line presence."

In addition to their regular duties enforcing parking rules, bylaw officers
will also be patrolling the city looking for criminal activity. A key
component of their work will be enforcing the drug paraphernalia bylaw
which is still working its way through city hall.

The bylaw bans items that can be used to conduct drugs, including pipes and
needles, from the city's parks. McVarnock said that bylaw officers would be
given the power to search people to find any trace of illicit drugs.

"The drug paraphernalia bylaw I believe is very critical," he said. "We'd
like to be up and running by, at the latest, the May long weekend."

The B.C. Commissionaires, the private security patrol hired by the Downtown
Vernon Association, already attend police briefings and are made aware of
any suspects police are looking for. McVarnock said they are a valuable
part of making the downtown safer and he hopes they will continue their
work through the end of summer.

The DVA has currently raised enough money to keep the patrols going until
August.