Merritt RCMP say increase in files directly tied to out-of-towners accessing social services

The RCMP in Merritt are reporting an increase in crime this year, with the trend justifying the need for an additional Mountie in the small Nicola Valley community. According to police, the increase in call volume, largely in the downtown core, is at least partially tied to social services in the community and newcomers to Merritt.

“Ontario, Chilliwack, Revelstoke, USA, Williams Lake, Lytton, Fort St. James, Penticton, Vancouver, Coquitlam – these are not locals. These are 27 violent offenders who are now in our community who are causing problems every single day,” listed off Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz, from information provided to him by the RCMP.

That list of towns now stretches 30 deep, with each individual identified by the RCMP as a high-risk offender who has come to Merritt with no ties to the Nicola Valley. The local Mounties placing blame at the feet of provincially funded social services.

“We do have more people in our community than we should have, and it makes it very difficult for policing,” said Merritt RCMP Detachment Commander Staff Sgt. Josh Roda. “We are more than 500 calls ahead this year of where we should be last year, and those calls have almost all originated in the downtown core.”

“A lot of them who are now homeless in our community are telling us they came here for our shelter or to access services put on by different service providers in our community,” added Roda.

The first of those social services in the crosshairs of the Merritt RCMP is the Nicola Valley Shelter Society, which operates a 44-bed shelter out of the old Knights Inn. The society declined to comment for our story, directing CFJC Today to BC Housing.

The Ministry of Housing, who is responsible for BC Housing, confirmed that Minister Christine Boyle would not be available for an interview this week, and did not provide a written statement ahead of our Wednesday deadline.

The other organization in the crosshairs is ASK Wellness.

“Somehow suggesting that we are, as ASK, bringing people into the community is factually incorrect. I think what it does is it creates hysteria,” said ASK Wellness CEO Bob Hughes. “(I’m) very disappointed at [Roda’s] statements pointing to organizations that are working with people who are vulnerable who are from Merritt.”

“What we do know is Merritt has struggled for very, very many years with the issues of social determinants of health. We know it has some of the lowest access to healthcare services. We see people struggling in poverty with incomes much lower. This is something the community has faced for many years,” added Hughes. “They take a crack at organizations such as ASK who work with that population. We provide housing for 150 people.”

ASK, who provides services ranging from rent support to seniors housing in the community, is willing to sit down with local stakeholders in the hopes of finding a path forward.

“If we are seeing a mass immigration of people coming into the community who are struggling, let’s at least find out if those are facts and then come up with ways to support those people,” added Hughes. “Whether it’s to return back to their community or whether it’s to say they are from this community, let’s do the best we can to tackle their additions.”

The 30 listed offenders from out of town are only on that list because they have had an interaction with police, but remain on the street.

“Not all are violent offenders. They are all high-risk they live a high-risk lifestyle. Some are simple property crime. Our courts don’t always have the ability to deal with the simple thefts from 7-11 every single day and, unfortunately, our businesses are paying the price for that. We do submit charges against and some are successful and others were not and really it just depends on the circumstance.”

Mayor Goetz used the term ‘compassion fatigue’ with respect to his community, noting a large financial investment may be needed.

“We are looking at compassion burnout – and it’s happening, compassion fatigue. It’s very real in the community now,” added Goetz.

For the Merritt Mounties, the increase in calls equates to the workload of an additional member that they don’t have.

“Right now, what’s not working in Merritt is we have an abundance of homeless population that we never had before and it’s causing issues for our local businesses. It’s causing issues for just the general public in the downtown core, and we don’t want to see that. We also don’t want to see the added calls to police, fire and ambulance. It’s taking us away from other stuff that we could be doing,” said Roda.

“Five-hundred calls is a game changer. It takes away from proactive policing. Our members don’t get to go out and make proactive patrols. They are stuck in the office writing up files, writing up [Crown submissions] or responding directly to incidents. They don’t have the ability to do the proactive work, provide services for fraud prevention or different things in our community that we used to be able to do because they are so busy answering calls,” added Roda.

While community frustration may be on the local social agencies in Merritt, local leaders are not excusing the provincial government’s role in the increasing problems.

“No community is budgeted to cover homelessness. That is the province’s responsibility – not ours,” said Goetz.

“We have to, as a society and as a city and greater, find a solution to this problem. I don’t think what we are doing right now is solving the problem. I think it’s making it worse, so we have to come together and find a solution,” added Roda.

CFJC News will have more out of Merritt on Thursday (July 9) as the community looks to Victoria to step up.