Sarnia residents grill police chief over Rainbow Park encampment

People who attended a Sarnia Police Service community town hall on Thursday night vented their anger over open drug use, needles in school yards and people defecating in public spaces as the city deals with a growing number of unhoused people camping in Rainbow Park.

Meeting attendees grilled police chief Derek Davis about whether police could seize drugs from people who were openly using, why police couldn't enter tents in Rainbow Park to remove drugs and why police couldn't simply remove individuals who were camped on city property.

"If [the city] got an injunction, would you enforce the injunction and rid the city of Rainbow Park?," Chris Cook asked.

Davis replied that police would enforce an injunction but cautioned that the city would still have to address the displacement of the individuals from the park.

These are city social issues, for the most part," he said.

'This is not going to go away'

"We're going to have to look at how we can better manage what we're not going to be able to magically fix. This is not going to go away."

The city has not pursued an injunction against the Rainbow Park encampment because it does not have enough shelter beds to house all of the city's unhoused, Mayor Mike Bradley told CBC — and cities that lack adequate shelter space to house the homeless have repeatedly failed to obtain injunctions against homeless encampments.

Bradley met with Lambton County Council on Wednesday to find out what kind of shelter needs to be offered to meet the threshold for an injunction, he said.

But it's the county, and not the city, that is mandated and funded to provide the service, he added.

Some people at the meeting made it clear that their patience is running out when it comes to people living with addictions and homelessness.

One woman drew laughter when making an example of Singapore, which permits the death penalty for serious drug offences.

Another invited attendees to protest outside the office of Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey.

But others had questions about possible solutions. 

"Why are funds being allocated to things that aren't necessary, like a roundabout in an area of town that wasn't really needed?" asked Olivia Clark.

Looking for solutions

"Why not instead raise funds for better care facilities in our community that we desperately need?"

The city has several vacant buildings that could help solve the problem, she added.

Bradley told CBC that the city isn't mandated or funded to provide services to people experiencing homelessness or addictions; that role belongs to the county. But he said he is open to collaborating on solutions.

Another person who took to the microphone proposed a return of neighbourhood programs such as Block Parents and Neighborhood Watch — something Davis encouraged.

And Tara Ferguson drew applause when she asked Davis what she, as a citizen, could do to help.

He replied that reporting crimes, taking part in community solutions — such as a Neighborhood Watch-like program, should it get off the ground — and offering a kind word to police officers on occasion would all be helpful. 

Some attendees at the meeting raised concerns that the mayor, the police chief and other levels of government did not appear to be co-operating effectively to resolve the social problems in the community.

Former Sarnia Coun. Matt Mitro told Davis,"that the former chair of the police services board and our current mayor, Mayor Bradley, doesn't talk to you — that is not your fault. That's on him." 

Another person expressed anger that Bradley, Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu and MPP Bob Bailey were not present at the meeting.

But Bradley said Davis rebuffed his offers to meet with him when Bradley was chair of the police services board, and he did meet with former deputy chief Julie Craddock for more than two hours within the past year.

Bradley said he only learned of the Thursday meeting four days prior.