There will be a bigger presence from the Customer Care and Patrol (CAP) Team on the Kamloops North Shore this year.

In 2018, they were helping pick up needles in that part of the city, as part of a pilot program, but this year they’ll be largely in an ambassadorial role.

“We’re hoping that there will be less of a focus on some of the debris clean up and more of a focus on the community ambassador side,” said NSBIA Executive Director Jeremy Heighton, nothing they’ve contracted out two positions this year. “No one side detracts from the other.”

“We actually hire new people to come over to the North Shore and add them to the contingent downtown.”

He noted that they won’t know the full extent of how things will work until we get into the summer months.

“We go out to the airport, we include Brock, we have Ord and Halston Roads, we have 12th Street and then we have Upper and Lower Tranquille,” added Heighton. “So we have a very broad area with a number of business zones.”

“The CAP team will be working on our behalf throughout the North Shore to do community liaison work, to do ambassador’s work, and they will, if they encounter needles or debris, pick that up as well.”

As for the needle pickup, Heighton says a deal has been struck with another organization from April through October.