The Nelson Police Department has announced the hiring of three new staff members.
The department said Friday it had recruited Const. Jason Horvath from the Edmonton Police Service, where he served four years.
NPD has been understaffed throughout 2023. Two officers died in an avalanche in January, and six have either retired or resigned. Chief Donovan Fisher said in early July that three officers and two recruits had been brought on this year.
Two community service officers were also hired to help the department patrol downtown. Jasmine Uppal and Heidi Quillan will not have enforcement powers but will act instead as liaisons between the police, business and street communities.
The pair will also patrol Lakeside Park, Cottonwood Falls and the Izu-shi Friendship Society gardens in Railtown, as well as assisting with what the department describes as lower-level property crimes such as graffiti.
“The program is really just at its infancy so it is only limited by imagination at this point as to all the things that can be done and the benefits the community and the department will see,” said Fisher in a statement.
Adding two community service officers is in part a response to concerns from the business community about increased crime and drug use in the downtown core.
City council will vote on a bylaw amendment at a special meeting scheduled for Tuesday that bans illicit drug use from city parks. Similar bylaws are being adopted by municipalities throughout B.C., and Premier David Eby has said he will introduce legislation in the fall to help local governments deal with drug use in public parks.
READ MORE:
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• No evidence decriminalization has led to increase in public drug use: B.C. addictions minister
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@tyler_harper | tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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