Open drug use, crime and ongoing social disorder has created a perception that downtown Nanaimo has become unsafe, says the city’s manager of bylaw services.
But significant strides have been made in dealing with a wide range of issues since 12 community safety officers arrived on the scene five months ago, Dave LaBerge told Nanaimo’s governance and priorities committee on Monday.
Worries about safety in the city are not new in Nanaimo but they resurfaced this month after two residents were shot in separate outdoor incidents. Each was taken to hospital in serious conditions. One took place in the centre of downtown while the other was near Terminal Avenue.
As well, one person died this past weekend after fire tore through an empty building slated for redevelopment. It has frequently been broke into, to be used by people without homes. RCMP are investigating but indications are that foul play is not suspected.
Nanaimo has a visible population of unhoused citizens. The next point-in-time homeless count takes place in April to update one taken in 2020.
A major impetus by the city is its downtown Nanaimo community safety action plan, implemented last year.
A key component in this venture was hiring a dozen community safety officers who work closely with the street community and business operators from 6 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Talking about the teams’ work, LaBerge said, “It has to be understood that these measures don’t address root causes of homelessness but they do provide timely and consistent responses and supports to the community.” Much of their work takes place after business hours when traditional services are shut for the day.
In the five months that they have in place, the group has responded to 3,465 calls for service. They check up on people’s welfare, visit encampments, tour parkades, and handle drug-related emergencies.
They develop relationships with unhoused people and refer them to services.
The goal of community safety officers is to be on the scene within 30 minutes of receiving a call, LaBerge said. Police responses, if it isn’t an emergency, can sometimes be several hours, he said.
Frequent wellness checks are paying off. “They have saved many many lives in the first five months” by administering naloxone and doing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, LaBerge said.
These officers are tasked with protecting city assets, including parkades, plazas and parks. Two full-time clean teams work seven days a week. Two custom trucks are fitted with onboard pressure washers and generators. As well, two industrial-strength garbage vacuums have been ordered. Rolling bins are being added downtown and along with many new garbage cans.
Video surveillance systems are coming to help monitor city parkades. Parking facilities are susceptible to crime and the city has seen damage in theirs, including fires on vehicles and the building’s infrastructure.
This summer, the city will install $255,000 in video surveillance gear at parkades, in protection for electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems, and to upgrade elevators, Laberge said.
Coun. Paul Manly asked LaBerge about a “dangerous narrative” that police are not responding to property thefts in the community.
When encampments are visited, the items there may have been scavenged or previously discarded, thus making it hard to know if it is somebody’s stolen property, LaBerge said.
Coun. Sheryl Armstrong, a former RCMP officer, said citizens should mark their property and record serial numbers so ownership can be verified.
It’s time for the city to talk more about the comprehensive initiatives it is involved in, council members said. Citizens may feel that the city is not taking action when in fact there is a lot going on and many agencies are working together.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
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