Residents say this Kelowna neighbourhood has changed for the worse

A used meth pipe and an empty drug bag were the last things Kris Hyam expected to find on his daughter’s birthday.

“I came out to the lawn where I enjoy my coffee and there was a glass pipe used to smoke meth. Next to that was a used meth bag,” said Hyam.

He says it was one of several incidents that have left him and his family feeling increasingly uneasy in their Rutland neighbourhood.

“Theft from the patio, people checking doors, people defecating on the front lawn,” he said.

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Hyam recalls another frightening encounter when his wife confronted a man she believed had been on their property.

“I came out and heard my wife yelling. She was saying, ‘He’s here,’ and then I heard that he threatened her,” said Hyam.

Just a few blocks away, business owner Harjit Toora says his family-run bakery has also been targeted repeatedly.

“Four incidents have happened here. Two happened in the daytime and two happened at night,” said Toora. “This fourth incident caused us a big setback.”

The concerns being raised by residents are also reflected in the City of Kelowna’s latest Citizens Survey.

The city identified a “notable rise” in concerns about crime and community safety compared to its previous survey. Among residents who said their quality of life has declined, 29 per cent pointed to safety concerns as a reason, more than double the 13 per cent reported just two years ago.

Crime and public safety have also climbed the list of issues residents want city leaders to prioritize.

Longtime Rutland resident Tessa Sears and Toora say they wanted to speak out because they feel too much of the conversation around crime focuses on Kelowna’s downtown core. They say the challenges they’re seeing in their own neighbourhood show that concerns about theft, break-ins and public safety are no longer limited to one part of the city.

For residents like Hyam, the citizens survey simply confirms what they’ve been experiencing firsthand.

Global News asked the City of Kelowna what changes are being considered to improve safety in Rutland but did not receive a response before the deadline.

For many in Rutland, the goal is straightforward: see things improve enough that next year’s survey paints a different picture.

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