‘City owes us a duty of care’: Crowd voices concerns at Sarnia police town hall

Sharon Docherty says it has been exhausting living across the street from the homeless encampment at Sarnia’s Rainbow Park.

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“It’s exhaustive listing to the couples fighting and screaming in the middle of the night. . (and) the dogs barking,” Docherty said after a Sarnia police community town hall meeting at the Royal SCITS Academy gym Thursday night.

Emergency crews, called often to the camp in the downtown-area city park, have begun turning off sirens at night to lessen the impact on neighborhood residents, Docherty said.

“But we’re still affected by the lack of sleep. . . (having to) double check all your doors and make sure your stuff’s locked down before you can go spend the day at work,” she said.

An estimated 200 to 250 people filled the gym’s bleachers and extra chairs set up by school staff and police to hear Chief Derek Davis and other police representatives discuss law enforcement issues facing the city.

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The town hall was a “straight response to the community turmoil,” Davis said. “We owe it to the community to make ourselves available and to be responsive to their concerns.”

Earlier Thursday, Sarnia city hall said $73,000 was spent between July 27 and Aug. 30 on security, portable washrooms, cleaning up, dumpsters and fencing in Rainbow Park. That follows $90,000 spent on July 26.

Policing costs connected to the camp were about $30,000, between July 27 and Aug. 30, the city said.

This week, Lambton County council declined the city’s request to help with the cost of dealing with the encampment that began with a few tents early this year and grew in following months.

Drug use and mental health issues are widespread in the park, Docherty said. “These are the very difficult to house – almost impossible to house.”

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Lambton County said recently the shelter system it helps fund was at about 63 per cent capacity in July. That includes a winter overflow shelter on Exmouth Street the county kept open through the summer in response to the encampment.

“It has to stop. . . (and) the truth is, the change has to come from the government higher than the police, higher than the city,” said Docherty, one of the neighborhood residents who’s been pushing for action at the park.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that the city owes us a duty of care as well,” she said. “We’re not going to shut up and go away.”

The city, police and Lambton County, which delivers social services and oversees homelessness prevention efforts, need to “get on the same page,” Docherty said. “You all have a responsibility to all of us.”

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Davis, acting deputy chief Mike Van Sickle and police board chairperson Paul Wiersma took questions, listened to concerns and spoke about police response to the camp, growing demand for policing, limitations from stretched resources and other restraints, and other issues.

The police service held public meetings about a year ago ahead of its 2024 budget, but with smaller turnouts, Davis said.

“We know people are upset, people are angry, and we wanted to give them a venue,” he said of Thursday’s session, adding,. “We (also) wanted to tell people what challenges we face, and what we are trying to do to help.”

Crime severity, as recorded by Statistics Canada, is rising, Davis said.

“The trend nationally is higher and we’re seeing the same trend as serious crimes are up,” he said.

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Criminal charges laid by Sarnia police are up 26 per cent so far this year, Davis said.

As well as frustration with the Rainbow Park camp, residents at the meeting raised concerns about issues around the Exmouth Street shelter, drug use and the impact on the neighborhood near London Road elementary school.

“We’ll see if we can make some adjustments and do some things better,” Davis said after the meeting.

Sarnia police recently released their proposed 2025 budget with a 10.3 per cent increase that includes adding two uniformed officers for the service’s Integrated mobile police and crisis team working with individuals experiencing homelessness.

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