Mounties have arrested several suspects for alleged looting in areas of the B.C. Interior that have been evacuated over wildfire danger.
Deputy RCMP Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr said officers have been conducting 24-hour patrols of evacuation zones to protect private property, and have already apprehended multiple apparent looters.
“We understand that this is an incredibly stressful time for evacuees, some of whom are understandably concerned about the safey of their property as well as their homes,” Butterworth-Carr told reporters Tuesday.
"There is no tolerance for criminal activities in the areas we've evacuated and in fact we have arrested a number of individuals in 100 Mile [House], Williams Lake for break-and-enter, breaches and mischief.”
A total of 10 suspects have been arrested between the two communities, according to Mounties. Most of them are locals who are known to law enforcement in the area.
The RCMP has dispatched 300 additional personnel to fire-affected areas to provide help as needed, including with core policing duties in places where local detachments are stretched thin. A further 40 RCMP employees are being sent in from Alberta.
Butterworth-Carr said officers have been personally impacted by the destructive fires just as members of the public have.
We, too, have employees and police officers that live in these communities," she said. "Many of our members and their families have been evacuated and at least two of our RCMP officers have, in fact, lost their homes to fires."
