The city has hired three people as part of the strategy, including two full time encampment response positions and one full time housing specialist. (Photo: Rochelle Sciortino)

By Christian Oldale

Resources in place for City of Lethbridge Encampment Strategy

Jun 15, 2023 | 3:49 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge has made moves to strengthen its Encampment Strategy, which was approved in May 2023.

In the last two weeks, the city said it has hired three people as part of the strategy, including two full time encampment response positions and one full time housing specialist, who is expected to be in place by the end of June. In addition, the city has been training staff for the encampment response and procuring outreach services and needed supplies.

Sgt. Ryan Darroch with the Lethbridge Police Service, who is in charge of the Downtown Policing Unit, said in the 13 days since he began doing encampment cleanups, he and other members of LPS and others who are involved in the strategy, have taken down 91 encampments.

Despite the high numbers, Darroch said the strategy has been a success and people have been co-operating, “We’ve seen like a 98 per cent compliance rate with encampments. It’s been successful in completely eliminating some of our long-tem entrenched encampments for sure.”

Darroch added that a large part of the job has been cleaning up garbage left behind at the encampments, as well as dealing with some biohazardous materials, stolen property, weapons, and occasional conflicts.

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He explained, “Some of our more prevalent events are crimes against persons, people upon other people. Within that realm, 83 per cent of those offenses are at-risk people acting out against known people to them in the downtown core.”

In a release, the city said a key component of the Encampment Strategy is contracting outreach services to engage with, and prioritize, the needs of those living in encampments, as well as connecting them with shelter and wellness resources.

The City sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for outreach services on May 8, and received three proposals by May 23, with a multi-departmental team choosing Streets Alive for the job and handing them a seven month contract, with their services expected to be fully operational by June 19, 2023.

Despite the success reported by the city and Lethbridge Police so far, the process is still a work in progress. Andrew Malcolm, General Manager of Community Social Development for the City of Lethbridge addressed this and said, “The Encampment Strategy is not a strategy to solve everything. We understand we have very complex issues at hand, and we do understand that by disrupting what could become an entrenched encampment, those individuals are moving throughout the community.”

The city is also asking the community to help report encampments by calling 311. Any immediate, life-threatening issues should always be reported by calling 911.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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