Trail city council’s decision to block off a viewing platform and request more RCMP foot patrols to discourage open drug use is being met with skepticism from police and a community group.
Tammy McLean, the chair of the Trail Community Action Team, which works to reduce harm and improve services for substance users, wrote to council immediately after they passed a series of motions this month.
The motion with most immediate effect called for the temporary closure of a new viewing platform on Groutage Avenue, which councillor Nick Cashol said was being dominated by people using drugs. Another motion asked RCMP to beef up their presence between Groutage Avenue and Jubilee Park, and a third asked for a staff report on how much authority the city has over encampments on Crown land within city limits.
“My biggest concern about all of those is displacing people without offering a place for unhoused folks to be or for people who have addictions to be able to safely use substances so that they don’t die in the middle of a toxic drug crisis,” McLean said.
“It does nothing to improve the safety of the community or the individuals involved in this displacement.”
McLean said while it would not be popular with everyone, she feels a better option would be to establish an overdose prevention site, where health care services could be provided and people could quickly be revived if needed.
McLean, a nurse practitioner, said she responded to five overdoses herself one day this month after a particularly potent batch of drugs came through town.
“Those are five community members who potentially would not be alive today if they had overdosed in a back alley or behind a dumpster,” she said.
McLean agreed it’s hard to see people using drugs openly or living in encampments, but said moving them along without giving them alternatives doesn’t solve anything.
“People who don’t have houses in our area don’t have houses. So where are they supposed to go? People who use substances who are housed have the privilege of walls around them, so there’s not the stigma and the discrimination that come associated with that.”Â
RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich previously told council that Trail has a “mild” problem with open drug use compared to other places, and police are at the limits of what they can do with enforcement.
In an interview last week, he said police have only received a couple of reports of drug use in Jubilee Park in recent months.
“We’re not sure if the highest priority is Groutage or Jubilee,” he said. “I think the viewing platform where there’s a homeless camp can be addressed, but we do need to have somewhere to send people.”
Wicentowich said the opening of the new shelter on Riverside Avenue last year has “helped out immensely,” but more solutions are needed.
He said adding regular foot patrols of the area would take resources away from other areas.
“If the city wants to dedicate themselves to having standardized foot patrols, we would need to hire officers for that specifically,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the best use of police time and money because I don’t think it’s going to produce the results people want.”
Wicentowich said if the goal is to reduce the visibility of drug use or homelessness downtown, money would be better spent finding a place for people to go.
He added that city council has been very supportive of the RCMP’s work, and he takes their request under advisement, but there are limitations on what police can do.
