A Kelowna man suffering from mental health and substance use issues was arrested Sunday afternoon, following an incident where he waved a hammer at a passersby.
RCMP said in a Monday press release that the man was being confrontational with people on the waterfront walkway at the foot of Bernard Street at around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, waving a hammer and spouting racial vulgarities at people of all ages, including children.
“Upon arrival, police immediately recognized the man, who had been released from police custody earlier that day,” RCMP said. “The man is known to be street-entrenched, with mental health and substance use challenges. The man has resisted community outreach supports and does not appear to be on any housing waitlists.”
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‘When citizens take the law into their own hands, things can go wrong’: Kelowna RCMP
A Kelowna RCMP community safety unit supervisor said there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to link the man to social services and, in the meantime, he’d generated over 22 police files in 2022, mostly for causing a disturbance and mischief, but that included violent and other non-violent offences.
During this most recent file, the man was successfully arrested but while being transported to cells, he defecated in the rear seat of the police vehicle.
“This is an example of the challenges police are dealing with every day. We are continually arresting individuals for repeat criminal offences, but have no legal authority to hold them in custody, and the complexities of their social and personal lives are such that we are stuck in a cycle of catch and release,” Const. Mike Della-Paolera said.
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“We have to continuously seek to solve these situations upstream, as the downstream revolving door of enforcement is inadequate to solve this problem. Without well-function(ing) and robust mental health and addiction services through mandated programs, individuals such as this person are going to be landing right back in our cells in no time and the revolving-door process starts all over again.”
According to Statistics Canada data released last Tuesday, the greater Kelowna area recorded one of the highest crime rates in Canada in 2021, at almost 12,000 cases per 100,000 people. Many of these cases have been blamed on repeat offenders.
Kelowna invests in upstream solutions such as the Community Safety Plan, which pulls together social agencies to address those at the most risk for future vulnerability and criminality, with an overall objective to increase efficiencies across systems, Kelowna’s Top Cop Supt. Kara Triance said in a press release
“Our police officers will continue to arrest those committing crimes, forward charges or seek alternatives and we require supports from the governments at all levels to address these social problems,” she said.
The man is facing four new charges including, causing a disturbance, three counts of mischief over $5, 000, two counts of mischief under $5,000 X 2 and uttering threats.
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