Prince George RCMP Superintendant Shaun Wright believes crime in the downtown core is on the decline thanks to some increased enforcement efforts.
City Council approved funding earlier this year for more patrols in that area, which were implemented in the spring.
In an interview with Vista Radio, Wright mentioned while business owners are still facing encounters with our most vulnerable, they are not happening as often when compared to the winter.
“We still receive calls for service obviously we do have a noticeable homeless population in the city of Prince George so on occasion, those calls have decreased significantly from where they were in the spring, which is directly a result of the increased police presence in the downtown core.”
“We implemented the enhanced patrols towards the end of April and I think they have been fairly successful both in increasing the visibility of police and increasing our enforcement capacity in that area.”
In addition, the wheels are in motion on how to expand the Car 60 program in Prince George according to Wright.
In July, City Council approved the request where Northern Health professionals ride along with police to assist with mental and emotional health calls.
Wright stated we could see the expansion take flight by next year.
“We have further discussions set over the next month here so I would hope by the end of the year we have a plan in place to see exactly what that’ll look like.”
From 2015 to 2019, Prince George saw a 120% increase in the number of mental-health related calls.