Taking on teen violence

A Kelowna mom is rallying support for changes that will protect children from being engulfed by what she sees as a rising tide of violence.

After the teen swarming in Kelowna last Friday, Jacqueline Best launched into action. She started a petition, developed a social media presence to raise awareness about teen violence and now is planning two rallies to be held in both the Okanagan and Lower Mainland.

“To see this kind of (violence) happening over and over and over, someone had to step up, and I’m passionate about this,” Best said Thursday.

Best has five children and has had experience with a similar situation in the past. Once she became aware of the risks, she started being more tuned in to what was happening in the community at large.

“Kelowna is a beautiful city and there are great teens here but the level of violence is too much,” she said.

Data supports the notion that crime is a growing problem among young people. According to Statistics Canada, in 2019, the total number of youth charged of a criminal offence in Kelowna was 57, in 2020 there were 78 youth were charged of a crime, in 2021 there were 46 youth charged, in 2022 there were 32 youth charged and in 2023 there were 81 youth charged.

She’s heard that there’s been a rise in the violent crimes involving youth with weapons in recent months and some of the initiatives she’s pitching, and hopes the community will support her in, could help curb that.

She wants to get legislators to look at amendments to the 2019 Criminal Youth Justice Act to effectively curb these issues, enhance rehabilitation and accountability.

"Firstly, we need to establish a rehabilitation centre in the Okanagan. This centre should focus on repeat offenders, specifically dealing with violence, bullying, harassment, and mental health,” she said.

Secondly, she wants to see parents of repeat offenders to pay fines after repeated offences committed by their children.

Finally, she wants legislation that will make platforms like Snapchat have to share crucial information concerning violent or harmful behaviour with parents and the police.

Currently, SnapChat, Instagram and companies of this kind will not co-operate when issues arise among users, she said.

“They will not release any information to parents,” she said.

“They won’t even respond to a letter to obtain certain information. If it's for minors and we’re responsible for them, we should have access."

Since launching this effort, Best has been in close contact with the battered teen's mother and father.

They are in support of her push to change legislation and hold a rally to garner further support.

It's something that neither they, or her, are going to let go of until there's change.

"I will take this until it's heard in the House of Commons," Best said. "There needs to be change and local violence needs to be addressed immediately."

On Friday, all five youth accused of a violent attack on a Kelowna teen at Gyro Beach on Friday night have now been arrested and released on strict conditions, police say.

"The Kelowna RCMP will be monitoring the youth to ensure they are complying with these conditions and attending any future court dates," RCMP said in a press release.

This incident was captured on video and continues to circulate despite police asking for the video to be removed.

“The victim along with police are asking anyone who has video of the incident to please stop circulating and playing the video,” Sgt. Laura Pollock Kelowna/Central Okanagan RCMP.

“We are asking everyone to abide by the victim’s wishes as the recirculation of the video is traumatic to all involved."

Police did not offer any insight into the ages of those involved in the swarming attack.

To sign the petition, follow this link.

*Editor's note: This story has amended Statistics Canada data.