| People who work with Calgary’s down and out say they’re being dehumanized as part of an effort to clean up the downtown – the homeless are being ticketed for sitting on benches under anti-loitering bylaws, a dramatic advertising campaign is depicting panhandlers as addicts, and overall police presence is expected to more than double.
In response to a perceived surge in crime, drug use and aggressive panhandling, the city plans to pump $15.7 million into a downtown strategy that will include enhancing police presence in the core. This will translate to 30 police officers – up from the 12 or so currently on patrol – as well as a "rapid deployment team" to be available on short notice and beefed-up transit security.
But the emphasis on law enforcement has drawn criticism from those who feel it could ultimately work against the city, undermining long-term efforts to get at the root of the problem.
"I think it will have a significant effect, but not for the positive," says Dermot Baldwin, the outspoken executive director of the Calgary Drop-In Centre. "In my years of working, I have never seen an addict cured because he has been punished and put in prison. I have never seen a mentally ill person come out of prison feeling cured."
Baldwin says the Calgary police are issuing nearly five times the number of citations against the homeless as they were three years ago, which he points out is an expensive approach.
"Each court process costs the public more. I think they are misinforming the public of the true cost. Meanwhile, the Calgary Urban Project Society is having a hard time finding a place (and) we can’t build a sobering centre. There is zero understanding on the part of the people making this decision."
According to Doug King, the chair of Justice Studies at Mount Royal College, increasing police presence and enforcement could very well clean up the troubled areas of downtown, but it will also displace the problem.
"The consequence, from my perspective, is that it will just move the problem somewhere else in the city," says King. "Evidence of that is how the police cleaned up Olympic Plaza – it moved to crack corner. It is a well-known, well-researched fact that when you have crimes of social disorder, you can never eliminate the problem through enforcement."
While moving the problem might be good for businesses in the core, it could be bad for Ald. Joe Ceci and his voters, who will likely find themselves on the receiving end of the migration.
"I’ve been forthright in my concerns in that regard. I indicated to the mayor that I represent communities that ring downtown – just cracking down and moving people along isn’t going to work for me," says Ceci. "I need measures to show that they are not displacing the problem."
Ald. Druh Farrell, whose riding includes the troubled East Village, supports the downtown initiative.
"I’ve watched the situation deteriorate in the last five years, and it is a dramatic deterioration," says Farrell, citing London as an example of a city that has made significant improvements in crime reduction and public cleanliness. "What precipitated the (London) cleanup was a crisis. We don’t want it to have to get to that."
The Calgary Police Service went through budget and personnel cuts in the mid ’90s, and although the number of officers per capita has not fully recovered, King says overall crime rates in Calgary and across Canada have either decreased or remained stable over the last 15 years.
But he expects crime rates to increase over the next five or six years due to demographic shifts. The number of males reaching the 16 to 24 age bracket – by far the most violent demographic – is on the rise. An increase in police presence, however, will not necessarily be an effective counter.
"I think the key to recognize is, when it comes to a violent crime rate, most crime happens in the heat of the moment, and it is hard to regulate those kinds of situations," King says. "In many instances, the best society can do is provide support for the victims and take the offender away from the scene...."
If crime has remained stable, what is fuelling the city’s fear of the street population? Baldwin says it is the result of a calculated effort to dehumanize the down and out.
"There is a definite plan, not announced as such, with a lot of co-operation with the downtown business association, the mayor’s office and aldermen, to create an atmosphere of misinformation, painting an entire population with the same ugly brush," he adds.
The Calgary Downtown Association’s advertising campaign, which dissuades people from giving to panhandlers and encourages donations to charitable organizations instead, hasn’t helped dispel negative stereotypes – specifically the billboard in which a man shoots up with a syringe full of change.
"The dramatic advertising, with the message being if you give money to panhandlers you’re helping them to die, is in no way fixing anything because people are not going to turn around and write me a cheque for $2," says Baldwin.
"They are making it sound as if the whole city is going to hell in a handbasket, causing people to mistrust and hate the homeless. Do you really have to hate addicted people? They are victims of violence and street gangs."
Baldwin is not the only social worker who feels this way. John Rook, CEO of the Salvation Army Centre of Hope, also believes the advertising campaign, as well as the rhetoric used by politicians and officials, is harmful.
"All of us in this whole sector, the addiction sector, say we are offended by the ads because they paint an inaccurate picture of the people were trying to help," says Rook. "Same with when the mayor uses the word ‘blight’ in speeches."
So is the downtown strategy a true crackdown? Not according to Ceci. While the increase in police presence promises to be noticeable, the former social worker is confident that the mayor’s plan will go beyond law enforcement.
"The plan is more than that," says Ceci. "The other parts will work with social agencies in terms of crime prevention."
While full details have yet to be revealed, it has been established that $5 million in municipal funds will be set aside for affordable housing, $5 million will go towards recreation, and $15.7 million will be used for the downtown strategy. The plans will be funded out of the $25.7 million in tax revenue the city received from the province. |
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