The visibility of a homeless camp in Vernon is higher than when it was located in Vernon’s crown jewel, said a member of the Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP.
The number of people in the camp, she added, is significantly lower.
Const. Kerri Parish was addressing Vernon council Monday about the camp that has been erected along Linear Park beside 25th Avenue, and has been well in view of city residents and visitors since it was erected at the end of August. This came after a camp at the back of Polson Park was torn down.
“At Polson Park, there were 25-to-40 people camping in the back trails,” said Parish. “Now, there’s a very clear, visible camp on Linear Park (off 25th Avenue) and, right now, in our experience, there are about 12-to-15 individuals taking temporary shelter over the evening hours.
“The numbers fluctuate during the day and evening depending on who’s in the camp or who’s visiting. The numbers are significantly smaller than Polson Park.”
The camp – whether it was in Polson Park or now at Linear Park – has been the subject of debate and stories in this newspaper. Residents have said they are scared to walk past the camp on Linear Park’s walkway due to fear of being harassed or criminal activity. Those in the camp have said they wished the situation was different, that they didn’t want to be living in tents on the streets.
“There’s a lot of pressure for how everybody is dealing with this,” said Parish.
The RCMP, she said, has been conducting general duty and foot patrols near the Upper Room Mission, Real Canadian Wholesale Club, and Blue Moon Esso, and are fully focused on Linear Park.
Action teams and the community safety unity have been working closely with The People Place, which houses a number of organizations right beside Linear Park, due to concerns for the safety of staff. People that access services at The People Place are scared to go to the office because of the camp.
“Private security has been hired and the RCMP is enforcing trespassing on their property,” said Parish, who added police will attend any criminal behaviour reported at the camp. The police, she said, have zero tolerance for criminal activity.
“If somebody needs to go to jail, they’re going to jail. But if it’s not criminal in nature, they’re not going to jail. There are some members of the camp who don’t belong in jail. They struggle with mental health and/or addiction issues. These people generate lots of calls to the RCMP.”
Parish said residents have been bringing food and water to campers. Asked if that was wise, Parish said if people want to help they should, but should also understand the issues.
“Bringing food and water, that’s very human,” she said. “If they’re bringing additional items that could be strewn about and left as garbage, we’re asking people to be cautious. We don’t want to add to the visible disarray.”
Vernon councillor Juliette Cunningham said working partnerships the city has with the RCMP, Social Planning Council and Partners In Action don’t get enough appreciation.
“If these partnerships weren’t working, we’d be dealing with far more exponential issues than we’re dealing with now,” said Cunningham. “I’m not trying to say our situation is great. It’s a situation we can expect in a community our size with limited resources. The fundamental thing we need is housing and support and that’s what we’re working on.”
Coun. Brian Quiring said tearing down the camp at Polson Park was the right move.
“We knew this would happen when we did what we did to Polson Park,” said Quiring of the camp shifting to Linear Park. “It’s working because there were 40 people in Polson Park and there are now 15 at Linear Park. I stand by our decision and think we did the right thing.”
Quiring’s motion to potentially add Linear Park, from 34th Street west toward the bridge over BX Creek, to the list of parks in Vernon where temporary shelters are banned will be revisited at the next regular council meeting Oct. 23.