Excerpt from www.Rutlanders.ca - Rutland's Community Website:
In my role as a Rutland area REALTOR®, I regularly come across people looking for a good Kelowna home at an affordable price. These people sometimes have concerns about living in Rutland because they have been told by someone (a relative, service station attendant, or a fellow airplane passenger) that Rutland is not an area they should consider buying a home in because of problems with crime, drugs or alien abductions J. I asked Kelowna's RCMP Superintendent Bill McKinnon if he would have lunch with me and allow me to ask him some questions about Rutland, from the Police Chief's perspective.
We met on January 13, 2009 and here's how it went...
Grant: How long have you lived in Kelowna?
Supt. McKinnon: 7.5 years
Grant: What other communities have you served in?
Supt. McKinnon: Prior to Kelowna, I worked in 11 different communities in Saskatchewan, everything from isolated posts in Northern Saskatchewan, to farming communities, to cities like Regina and Saskatoon.
Grant: What do you like about Kelowna?
Supt. McKinnon: I love the weather, I golf, ski - we have a boat so we enjoy the lake. I think I like what everyone else likes about Kelowna.
Grant: This interview is focused on the Rutland area, so what you think about Rutland?
Supt. McKinnon: I think Rutland gets a bad rap; the whole area has changed considerably over the last 5 years. Rutland is progressive, it's friendly; I don't see it as any different than any area that we police (Glenmore, Mission...).
Grant: Do you think Rutland deserves a reputation as a high crime area?
Supt. McKinnon: No.
Grant: Why not?
Supt. McKinnon: Every area in the city has its issues. Rutland has crime just like every part of the city. I think Rutland neighborhoods are very safe. Most of the calls we get in Rutland are focused on the businesses and in the commercial areas, not the residential neighborhoods.
Grant: What about drugs?
Supt. McKinnon: I wouldn't say there are more problems with drugs in Rutland than in any other area of Kelowna.
Grant: How do your officers feel about working in Rutland?
Supt. McKinnon: They enjoy it, they like it. It's our most successful community policing office and that helps a lot.
Grant: Do a lot of your officers live in the Rutland area?
Supt. McKinnon: A number of them do, yes.
Grant: What can Rutland residents do to make your officers' job easier?
Supt. McKinnon: Report things that they see happening. We need them to be our eyes and ears. Be a volunteer; join the Kelowna Community Policing Association.
Grant: What do you think Rutland residents have that they should be proud of?
Supt. McKinnon: They are very involved and they take pride in their community. They want to be seen as different than the rest of Kelowna, which is a good thing. They have excellent recreation facilities, parks and schools. They really have no need to ever drive downtown, everything is right there.
end of interview
I'd like to thank Supt. Bill McKinnon for taking the time to meet with me. I hope this interview will be effective in dispelling some myths and increasing Rutland residents' pride in our great community.
If you would like a hard copy of this interview, contact:
Grant Wiebe, Proud Rutland Realtor
250.869.2279 grant.wiebe@century21.ca