This summer a downtown pilot project collected drug paraphernalia and nearly four tons of garbage while dealing with over 570 instances of camping on public and private property.
The downtown seasonal bylaw compliance team is a pilot project started in May of this year. Bylaw services hired two temporary staff and tasked them with enhancing health, safety and security in the downtown and surrounding areas.
“A regular day for them would be to start at seven o clock and go to the regular places were homelessness was evident and people were staying overnight,” said Fred Crittenden, manager of bylaw services, at Monday night's council meeting. “They would get them up and move them along and clean up.”
The employees, Denton Johnson and Adrian Hebert, brought experience to the role. Both were previously employed as correctional officers and had specific training relating to conflict resolution, understanding diversity and mental health and homelessness.
“We found very quickly that because of these staff members' experiences and training, they were able to establish a real rapport with some of the population of downtown, day in and day out,” said Crittenden.
He noted since mid-May to August, the team dealt with approximately 600 interactions with people (telling them to move along or clean up where they were); 95 per cent of those were proactive activities where staff were going out and checking places and dealing with the individuals there.
“Instances of camping on public and private property grew from 72 last year to over 570 this year,” said Crittenden, adding the jump is due to the proactive approach. “Left behind debris was taken to the landfill and they took 54 truckloads of waste to the landfill by the end of August; totalling was just under four tones.”
Crittenden said a lot of the debris consisted of items like cardboard, wood and clothing.
“One of the big things we had to deal with is the syringe and drug paraphernalia in the downtown area,” he said. (He showed council a photograph of the number needles collected in August, which could easily fill a five-gallon hazardous waste bucket.)
Drug paraphernalia collected in downtown Prince George. (via downtown seasonal bylaw compliance team)“Those pictures are unbelievable,” responded Coun. Brian Skakun. “Our staff are trained to handle them. The people in the community who are getting so frustrated, they are picking them up themselves (and) aren’t necessarily trained. It’s a real challenge.”
Skakun then asked if the problem is due to an increase of the homelessness population in downtown Prince George.
“Since the wildfires of last year, we did see an increase in the number of people we are dealing with and a different type of clientele,” said Crittenden. “Some of the individuals we are dealing with, we are seeing more indications of mental health issues and substance abuse.”
Coun. Murray Krause said they need to turn to the province and other groups to help people who need extra social supports.
“People deserve respect but they need support, too. I think putting it back that these people are not well and, like any other health issue, they need the proper response,” said Krause.
Coun. Garth Frizzell added that if the team hadn’t done its work “we would have had another 3,500 kilograms of trash that wouldn't have been collected in the city.”
Though the pilot project is slated to conclude in October, Crittenden added they are not seeing signs of anything slowing down as winter approaches.
“I worry for life beyond the pilot project because it is a pilot project and obviously these officers have created relationships, rapport and a culture of compliance,” said Coun. Jillian Merrick. “I worry about that going away after October because the problem doesn't go away when the snow falls there are still people sleeping out there in the cold.”
At the end of the presentation, city manager Kathleen Soltis clarified that although one of the employees had left to pursue other employment, the remaining employee's position with the downtown seasonal bylaw compliance team would continue beyond the pilot.
“We are a big city. Overall, we have a large budget. We can provide the necessary wages to continue that position until budget time rolls around," she said.
