Sarnia police launch new AI-powered homelessness hotline

The Sarnia Police Service has partnered with the city on a new hotline, answered by an AI attendant, to deal with calls related to homelessness.

The attendant is programmed to direct calls to the appropriate department or service to deal with the caller's concern, said police Chief Derek Davis. 

The goal is to create a single point of contact that will direct people to the city's bylaw department, the police department or service providers that serve the unhoused community, depending on what's appropriate, Davis said.

Right now, he said, people often send multiple emails to multiple people.

"A person … can send an email to a city councillor who sends it to the chief of police who then sends it to the communication centre," he said, "so we've got a lot of intake from multi-sources."

Many Sarnia residents were outraged last year when unhoused people set up an encampment in Rainbow Park.

They vented their anger at Davis in a public meeting in September, complaining about open drug use, needles in school yards and people defecating in public spaces.

The city dismantled the encampment in February of this year, but the individuals who had been living there are now dispersed across town, Davis said. 

A single place to report concerns

Ontario courts have ruled that unhoused people have a right to camp on municipal property if there is no adequate and accessible alternative shelter in the city.

Davis couldn't say whether the complaints the city and police service have been receiving from residents involve illegal activity. 

"It could be either or," he said. "I think the reality of what we're trying to solve is people have questions or concerns.

"They need a single place to report them, and then we'll investigate whatever those circumstances are. It's not a guaranteed outcome of any type of response. It may be no response"

AI, he said, is "not fantastic" but it's a cost-effective way to offer the service 24/7, costing in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, approximately one third the price of a staff member. 

"It's a computer. We expect it to not be perfect." he said.

"This is for non-emergency calls, so the risk is actually low in that regard. If it doesn't work, the non-emergency lines are still there and, all the other agency lines are still available, but we're hoping this does alleviate some of the frustration from our community on some level."

Davis said he expects officials to evaluate the services in the late fall or toward the end of the year to decide if they will continue it.

The manager at River City Vineyard Christian Fellowship, which runs a shelter open to individuals who are not using drugs, said she believes the new phone line is "a good idea."

Audrey Kelway hopes residents will use it respectfully, she said.

But Kelway said the city needs more than a phone line to help solve homelessness.

"I wish that there was something more to help people get off of drugs," she said.

"I wish there was more [of a] rehab-type thing. ... Because, you know, a lot of people that are struggling with drug addiction, they don't want to be there."