WATCH ABOVE: For some, the River Valley is used for recreation, but for others, it’s where they live. Vinesh Pratap has a look at the challenges of cleaning them up.
EDMONTON — On a hot summer day many Edmontonians take to the river valley for a walk or run, but the picturesque location is also home to many who have nowhere else to go.
As the temperature heats up, more homeless camps are set up in the river valley as people seek refuge from the heat, and Edmonton police say they come with some concern.
“For the most part I would say it’s not a safety concern in terms of being targeted for violence. However, safety in terms of needles and sharps, objects that are broken, the garbage left behind,” said EPS Const. Dexx Williams. “We did see some knives, some hatchets; we’ve seen hammers.
“In this case we’ve got a lot of reports of concerns regarding stolen bicycles showing up in this campsite. There’s reports of drinking, fighting, yelling, that kind of stuff.”
Sean Waddell has lived near the river valley all his life. While he says he’s not overly concerned about safety, his girlfriend is.
“She doesn’t want to walk her dog at night,” he said. “I can understand why she’s not very comfortable.”
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As a crime management officer, Williams works to reduce crime and disorder downtown. With several people living at any given campsite, Williams says they do their best to keep the area clean, but it is an ongoing issue.
“Essentially, as we shut down one camp they move and relocate to another one. The biggest problem is the lack of locations for them to go to in terms of finding shelters and housing,” he explained.
Police work with social agencies to help find shelter for those in need, but Williams says for the most part the demand just outweighs the supply.
“In a perfect world it would be more social resources in place to get people the housing they need, to get people off of any addictions that are leading to this lifestyle.”
The City of Edmonton recently approved $457,000 in additional funding to deal with river valley cleanup, with money going towards extra rangers, cleanup teams and equipment.
“The City of Edmonton is doing everything it can to help address the problem, but hopefully through the other levels of government we’ll see more activity and more commitment to programming to resolve it,” said Don Belanger, with the City of Edmonton’s Community Standards Branch.
The city encourages anyone who sees a homeless camp or excessive garbage in the river valley to report it to 311.
The last count showed there are just over 2,200 people who are homeless in Edmonton.
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