Removing Rainbow Park encampment would be methodical, not ‘heavy handed:’ police chief

If city council directs police to dismantle a tent encampment in Sarnia’s Rainbow Park, it won’t happen fast, the city’s police chief says.

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That request hasn’t come, said Derek Davis; but if it does — council meets to discuss the issue May 6 — “it would be a long process,” the chief said.

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Police would “spend time educating,” talking to people and encouraging people to use community services, he said.

Davis specifically ruled out police doing anything fast, sudden or “heavy handed.”

There will also be no “blanket response” to the group, given individuals have individual needs, he said.

“We would take a very objective, rational, methodical, lawful approach if we were asked to do anything.”

His comments came Thursday as the city’s police service board — the name recently changed from police services board by provincial legislation, board chair Paul Wiersma said — heard Davis and police Deputy Chief Julie Craddock recount visiting Wednesday the about 25-tent encampment by the St Clair River’s edge, and beside a children’s playground.

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The duo went in uniform during the day for about two hours to get a sense of the situation first-hand, Craddock said, calling it “eye-opening.”

The park was “extremely orderly,” people were friendly, reported they felt safer living in the park together, and didn’t seek shelter spaces for reasons ranging from having pets, relationships, and other reasons, Craddock said.

There are enough shelter spaces available for the existing homeless population in Sarnia-Lambton “unless an individual is restricted from the program due to their behaviors,” County of Lambton homelessness prevention manager Melissa Fitzpatrick emailed April 19.

Craddock said a county list of people experiencing homelessness had 350 names as of that date, but it changes daily.

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“The county outreach team is consistently engaging with about 60 unique individuals every single month,” she said, all of whom are outside at least some of the time.

There are other tents set up in other areas around Sarnia, and elsewhere in the county, she said.

At Rainbow Park, during her and Davis’s brief visit, garbage and drug paraphernalia appeared to be under control with the help of the police integrated mobile police and community team (IMPACT), county officials and city bylaw, she said, noting city police and county officials visit every day.

That doesn’t mean police endorse encampmentsshe said, noting there have been reports, from police and members of the public, about weapons, fire hazards — police stopped handing out hand sanitizer because it was being used for fuel inside tents — and violence at Rainbow Park.

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The lack of washrooms at the encampment also presents a public health risk, she said.

“Everybody is there because of their own unique circumstances,” Craddock said, stressful addiction and mental health concerns are a major issue for the vulnerable population.

“Not everyone is capable or willing at this stage to self-remedy and elect to go into voluntary treatment,” Davis said, given the hold of some drug dependencies.

Police will continue delivering services “in an objective and compassionate way … and keep all of our community members safe, (whether they’re) housed or unhoused,” he said.

Craddock also stressed police never removed people in tents from Veterans Parkbut worked with other agencies to help where needed.

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There’s been misinformation in the community, she said.

One person was arrested after a criminal offense, but shortly thereafter was moved to “culturally appropriate” treatment and is doing well, she said.

City councilors Chrissy McRoberts and George Vandenberg serve on the police board and were present Thursday.

Coun. Anne Marie Gillis watched from the gallery.

McRoberts suggested the city might look to keep the Rainbow Park encampment group together somewhere else in the city, given Craddock and Davis’s report.

Where is unclear.

“Nobody wants to say we’re going to encourage this,” McRoberts said. “But if we disband this (encampment), they’re all going to go somewhere else again.”

Sarnia council voted earlier this month to clear out the growing Rainbow Park encampment, but wait until more legal and social services information is presented May 6, amid warnings from city staff about potential litigation.

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A legal expert has said Sarnia has to “demonstrate that they’ve provided sufficient accessible accommodation for the encampment residents” to justify eviction, based on recent legal cases in Waterloo and Kingston.

That can’t just be available shelter spacesthe York Region Community Legal Clinic’s Jeff Schlemmer said, but could look like transitional housing cabins being planned in Chatham-Kent.

One major problem is there are many agencies and groups involved in the complex housing and homelessness issue in Sarnia-Lambton, but no agency in charge, Davis said.

“Right now, this is edge of desk for all participants who are trying to deal with these critical issues in our community,” he said, adding those people are doing their core jobs and trying to help, but being asked to go above and beyond when it comes to strategy.

Figuring out a solution is beyond the scope of the police, he added.

“There are a lot of ‘who is responsible’ questions being asked, and I think that needs to be resolved,” he said.

Hopes are also to get a MobileCare community outreach clinic on wheels that makes regular stops in areas around Sarnia-Lambton also visiting the encampment, said Craddock, noting the issue was raised at a meeting of the county’s community safety and well-being group of service providers.

“We were seeing some people with medical conditions that should be looked at,” she said.

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