PENTICTON, B.C. – The head of the Penticton RCMP says he cannot call Boonstock a success because someone lost their life.
Supt. Kevin Hewco completed the tally of policing cost for the August long weekend event and blames poor planning and security holes for increasing the cost of RCMP services.
“The planning of any major event plays a significant role in its success and safety,” says Supt. Hewco. “From our view, I cannot label this event as a success, especially considering the fact that a young woman died.”
Lynn Tolocka died from a suspected overdose on the festival grounds. The 24-year-old Leduc, Alberta resident was one of more than a dozen drug overdose cases among Boonstock attendees, but was the only person who died.
A press release from the Penticton RCMP office release Wednesday morning says policing numbers compiled from the Boonstock weekend event don’t tell the whole story, because, Supt. Hewco says “A great deal of discretion was used during the event for lesser offences when our role change from enforcement to security and public safety”.
There were 150 police files created by the event with 38 people arrested.
RCMP estimated their policing costs would have been near $200,000, but have now re-evaluated the cost to be $250,000.
Supt. Hewco says their role changed significantly when gaps were identified in the private security at Boonstock, but had the event been issued a liquor license, policing would have increased substantially more.
“I believe that the security concerns that we identified would only have been compounded had the event been issued a liquor licence,” states Supt. Hewco. “Our ability to maintain order and relative safety at this event is attributable to our increased resources and the limited availability of liquor on site.”
Boonstock hired 24-7 Security in the final weeks leading up to the August long weekend after International Crowd Management (ICM) withdrew services. ICM President Brent Pollock said they became uncomfortable with the contract when perimeters and cuts to the number of security guards were requested by organizers of the event.
Supt. Hewco says it is the responsibility of the promoter to reimburse the Provincial Government for these special event policing costs rather than leaving the bill up to the taxpayers.
He says they’ll be advocating for safety and security at future events.
Boonstock organizer Colin Kobza told Global News he would be available for comment later in the day.
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