Lethbridge is lacking in shelter capacity, according to preliminary data from the point in time count of unhoused people. The city’s safety standing policy committee received an update on strategies for dealing with encampments on Oct. 13, where city manager Lloyd Brierley said data so far is showing around 400 people experiencing homelessness in the city, with current shelter capacity able to accommodate around 100 people.
Discussion at the meeting was largely focused on safety of people living near the encampment at Civic Centre field — many residents attended to speak on the topic and said they do not feel safe in the area. Many spoke against a proposed interim sober shelter at the curling rink, which is pending approval and funding.
READ MORE: Lethbridge to look at temporary sober shelter at Civic curling rink
Members of the public were concerned police are not doing enough to enforce trespassing laws to evict people from the park, but Sgt. Mike Williamson from the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) said their hands are tied. He said police do not have legal authority to remove tents and LPS has officers at the encampment daily.
“A lot of officers are frustrated by the fact that we are so limited in what we can do in terms of enforcement. Would we like to go in and rip down all the tents and move them all to another location where they are safer? Yeah, absolutely but we can’t and so it is a source of frustration for us,” he said.
Williamson said the enforcement process consists of ticketing and court summons — he noted some individuals have been summoned multiple times and have not paid tickets.
“Quite honestly, we know those aren’t going to be paid based on the people that are there,” he said. “At what point do we have to say does this become fruitless and so what we are now directing is those that have the eight or nine court appearances, we are not issuing anymore because honestly it is fruitless.”
Councillor John Middleton-Hope asked what resources would help deal with the issue. Mike Fox, director of community services, said advocating for shelter space is important, as well as paving the way for needed services in the city. On the outreach side, he would like to see sustained funding, which could allow service providers to work without a short term contract. This, he said, would help workers to build relationships and have a better chance of getting people the services they need.
For law enforcement though, Williamson was not sure more resources will make a sustained impact.
“Enforcement is not the answer in my personal opinion, it has to be a collaborative effort. Is it working? I think we are seeing some progress there and there are some positives that are coming out of it. Will we solve this? No. Will homelessness be here for years to come? Yes it will be, however I still think as we work as a collective group we can help the situation and come [up] with solutions.”
Williamson pointed to the amount of stolen property at the encampment and said it is more than LPS can handle — he said it is often hard to find the person responsible for theft. “I have one officer, on a daily basis [he] is seizing anywhere from five to seven bikes everyday that he is on shift, but again, the sheer volume of stolen property — we know it’s there but however, it’s more than we can handle capacity wise.”
Councillor Ryan Parker questioned whether more could be done to keep people out of the park such as fencing or noisemaker which could make it an undesirable place to stay.
“Is it the police’s responsibility to make sure if people are trespassing that you must do your job? I know what you’ve said is kind of a really gray area and you don’t want to go there because it’s people’s rights to have shelter and all that — I challenge that personally because I think we should remove them and if people don’t like what they’ve done, take us to court,” he said. “If you created an atmosphere where people go ‘heck, I don’t even want to put up a tent in Lethbridge because the cops are all over me like flies to you know what,’ so why can’t we add more police officers through the budget process?”
Williamson said more officers might help, but reiterated that police are limited in what they can do. “As I have said before, we are not the answer. We are not going to solve homelessness or those problems that are associated to that just by law enforcement alone.”
The city allocated $230,000 to removing encampments this summer, of that there is expected to be about $60,000 left at the end of the year, according to city staff.
BACKGROUND: Lethbridge approves additional $230,000 to remove encampments