Progress on London's open drug use policy, but police stay mum on details
Strategy involves working with frontline social agencies and arresting 'when appropriate' LPS Chief says
The London Police Service (LPS) is still finalizing details on its strategy to tackle public open drug use on city streets, and said Londoners will learn more about it in the coming weeks.
A few months after Police Chief Thai Truong vowed to crack down on open drug use, including using measures like arresting people when appropriate and working with health and social services, the city's top cop hasn't yet outlined what the drug policy will be and how it will be enforced.
At an LPS board meeting on Feb. 20, Truong said the open drug strategy "will be implemented within four weeks, with ongoing community and media engagement. The final details are being addressed."
However, when asked by CBC News for an update at Thursday's police board meeting, officials said they are making progress on the policy but stopped short of sharing its specifics, adding that they will share more information at a later time.
Truong told CBC's London Morning in October that open drug use has become a community safety issue and is causing the city's downtown to suffer, and said a strategy is needed to address the concerns because police "can't arrest their way out of it."
"What is happening in our community is a public safety concern. It's about community safety and open drug use, especially in the downtown core is impacting businesses, it's impacting the greater community at large," Truong said in an interview in October.
"We cannot allow open drug use in areas where children and families are walking by, impacting our citizens and businesses when there is open drug use and dangerous drugs. We cannot have that. That also means not arresting every single person but engaging and intervening."
Kristin Nielsen, the new board chair of the London Downtown Business Association, said open drug use is a constant source of discussion among businesses and her association would support measures that could restrict it.
"It impacts everybody because it is a reflection of perceived safety, so when illegal activity is open and accepted, everybody's sense of collective safety decreases, and it can be interpreted as a discouragement to enjoy those spaces where it's happening," she said.
Nielson said drug use is a complex issue which goes beyond interactions on the street, and while she agrees arresting people who need mental health support isn't the answer, her team is willing to support police in their strategy.
Police are not the complete solution to the challenges faced by downtown London but they need more support from the legal system and other services to address the social and mental health issues, said Marvin Post, owner of Attic Books on Dundas Street.
"We expect them to be social workers, law enforcement officers, they can't cure all of the problems. They provide one facet, and they do a pretty good job of that, except we can't expect them to do everything," said Post.
"I know there's a fair amount [of open drug use], especially after hours; it's very sad, but incarcerating them is not the solution."
Post said having more events and festivals downtown has been helpful in bringing more people downtown, and he'd like to see that continue.
The business association, meanwhile, has expanded its approach to getting more people downtown through ramping up marketing and promotions, along with working with economic corporations to get "daytime use" in offices, said Nielson.
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