Rainbow Park camp has boosted police presence, board hears

There’s been more police presence in Sarnia’s Rainbow Park because of the homeless encampment there, service officials say.

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Sarnia police stepped up patrols March 31, with teams responsible for co-ordinating care with other social services stopping in almost daily, police deputy chief Julie Craddock told a police board meeting this week.

So far this year, there have been 157 “occurrences” at the park, said Chief Derek Davis, noting that includes patrols, well-being checks and disturbances of the peace calls.

Font ugly an attempted murder charge after a stabbing there May 6.

Police have spent 255 hours at the park since March 31, Davis said.

“Most of that is police visibility and presence in and around the community,” he said.

“Our level of service has actually increased proportionate with the needs of that area,” he added.

Sarnia council in early May rescinded a decision to dismantle the camp, after courts elsewhere ruled removing people camped in parks without offering them “truly accessible” housing was unconstitutional.

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Sarnia-Lambton’s emergency shelter system doesn’t currently offer that, a third-party legal opinion to council says.

Police have said they won’t remove people from the park without a court order, based on legal advice and consistent with court decisions and other jurisdictions.

“Our position is unchanged,” Davis said, noting police have not been asked to evict anyone from the park.

If a court order does come, police “enforcement would always be objective and reasonable,” he said.

Davis has said any enforcement would be methodical, lawful and not heavy handed, with police focused on referring people to community services.

Craddock, who co-chairs a safety and well-being leadership group drafting an encampment protocol sought by council last month, said the group met Wednesday.

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Protocols in other municipalities are designed to prevent camps getting established, she said. “They don’t necessarily deal with encampments that are already established.”

Coun. Brian White, Craddock’s co-chair, said he hope to have information about a potential city protocol when council meets June 3.

Davis, asked by police board member Chrissy McRoberts whether calls for police would decline if there were no camp in Rainbow Park, said moving people doesn’t address the root issue.

“If a person moves from A to B, those issues will travel with them from A to B,” he said.

Officials have noted most people living in the camp suffer with mental illness and substance dependence.

Craddock, who said most people living in the park are local or have family in Sarnia-Lambton, said auxiliary and special constables have started carrying naloxone, after training in April.

All sworn members carry the opioid overdose-reversing drugs, she said, noting police administered it to 15 people between January and September 2023.

“This was timely in the sense that we had an overdose in Rainbow Park (Wednesday),” she said.

“Our IMPACT (Integrated Mobile Police and Community) team happened to be in the park at that time and were able to administer naloxone and save the life of a male who was residing in the park.”

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