Members of the Fredericton Police Force say they’ve received numerous calls regarding several people living in an encampment in public areas of the city.
Staff Sgt. Paul Battiste said they often respond to complaints from the citizens regarding people sleeping and erecting tents on the riverbank. He said it’s a complex issue and one police approach carefully and sensitively.
“We’re certainly not trying to be heavy-handed and take a physical type approach to tear down tents and different things like that, so from a community-based level and a proactive approach we partner with a lot of community service groups within the city,” Battiste said.
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Battiste said he and other members of the police speak with the people living in the tents and try to find out why they’ve chosen to take up residence along the riverbank. He said they then try and work with those people and try to come up with a solution and find them housing.
He said in the past they’ve had success helping people find shelter, but said they have to want help. Battiste said there are some people who have several housing options available to them, but are choosing to live outdoors.
When it comes to the safety of the general public he said there’s no evidence or information that suggests residents need to be concerned about those living in the tents. There are currently several tents set up behind the soccer fields on Waterloo Row. Battiste said a few days ago they were by the Bill Thorpe walking bridge and that prompted quite a few calls to police because of how much public use that area gets. He said that’s not an “ideal location” and said it “doesn’t work” for people to pitch tents.
“With addiction issues and drug use comes the risk of needles and sharps,” Battiste said. “So yes, there are incidents where there are sharps left behind and that’s why it’s so critical that we partner with these people and different groups in the community to try to make available other residences for them, to look after their different needs and challenges.”
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“If you’re a citizen walking by and you see a tent erected … certainly just use caution for sanitary reasons and public safety reasons,” Battiste said. “They’re human beings … some decided by choice to stay there and some are there out of necessity, so we’re trying to work with these people to try and come up with solutions so they’re the ones to move along with our assistance and guidance.”
When police do approach people living in the encampment, he said they try and encourage different time limits and often ask them how much time they need to pack up and move their belongings.
“A lot of times it’s the time limits they put on themselves, but yes, we certainly will encourage them to try to move along and at some point if they don’t decide to move on their own we’ll have to take whatever actions necessary, but we want to avoid that at all costs,” Battiste said. “We’re basically just responding to the complaints that we receive, so we have not proactively went out and searched these residences out so if they’re in a location that is out of site, out of mind and we don’t receive complaints, we’re not going out and trying to find them.”
He said they don’t encourage anyone to set up tents and makeshift homes on the riverbank because it’s city property and not permitted by city bylaws for people to be camping out on the land.
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Understanding how people end up in encampments
Fredericton Homeless Shelters Inc. executive director Warren Maddox told Global News it’s often addiction and mental health issues that lead people to a situation of needing to live in tents along the river, but Maddox also said it can also come down to choice during summer. He said living in tents provides a sense of independence and gives them a place of their own.
“At this point, as long as they’re healthy, as long as they have access to some services, and certainly between the Downtown Health Centre and what we’re able to provide here at our shelters, they can sort of make it through the summer without too much difficulty,” Maddox said.
Maddox said they try and help as many people as possible, but said even if shelters weren’t at capacity there are times when they can’t accommodate people with severe mental illness. Due to close quarters, he said, those staying in the shelters need to have the capacity to be able to live with others.
He said if there were 10 people in the encampment there would likely be two or three people they couldn’t accommodate.
“Some of those individuals we can’t accommodate. Their health needs are beyond our capability of being able to provide for them,” Maddox said.
He said referrals and “other things” can be done but it’s up to those living in the encampments to take that step and “go and present themselves and say, ‘I need help.'”
Maddox said one option that could help get people off the riverbank would be if the city were to designate or purchase a small piece of land for people to set-up their tents free-of-charge.
He said come October and November the situation becomes more critical to deal with because of impending cold weather.
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