The Kamloops Pride Society and the Kamloops RCMP are partnering together on a new Safe Places pilot project to help 2SLGBTQPIA+ people find safety a little easier with the assistance of a rainbow shield symbol.

“Businesses that apply for and are successful in their review by the Kamloops Pride Society and the Kamloops RCMP will be provided with a rainbow shield sticker to put on their storefront,” Ashton O’Brien of the Kamloops Pride Society said.

“This signifies that if someone in the 2SLGBTQPIA+ community is experiencing hate, they may enter the business and wait safely for the police to arrive.”

The pilot – which is in partnership with the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, the downtown and North Shore business improvement associations, and the Kamloops-Thompson School District – will launch later this month.

“Historically this has been a community that has not always felt supported and has been subjected to hate crimes; we want to do a better job in the community of being inclusive and making people feel safe to report these crimes to police,” Kamloops RCMP Corporal Dana Napier added.

“It’s our hope that by working together with the Kamloops Pride Society on implementing various joint and collaborative initiatives, including diversity and inclusively training for police officers in Kamloops, we can move toward making more people feel supported and safe.”

For more information on Safe Spaces and a regularly updated list of participating businesses, go here.