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Gazette - Community tackles public intoxication
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NEWS NOTES
By Caroline Ross
RCMP officers in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, used to deal with over 3,500 cases of public intoxication each year. Now, a volunteer outreach program called the Community Service Patrol (CSP) has relieved them of some of that burden.
Every weekend, CSP volunteers drive the streets of Yellowknife, picking up intoxicated persons and taking them to safe locations like private residences and community shelters. The service reduces the strain on RCMP cells and means local police can get back to fighting drugs and serious crime, says Insp Roch Fortin, who helped get the program on its feet.
Communications Partners in Yellowknife’s Community Service Patrol pose beside the van volunteers use to transport publicly intoxicated persons to safe locations.
But the patrol service is only the tip of the iceberg, says Lea Martin, senior co-chair of the Yellowknife Community Wellness Coalition that runs the CSP.
“Just taking (intoxicated persons) to an alternate location doesn’t solve the problem,” say Martin. “We’d like to establish a transfer station — a ‘no-frills’ safe place for intoxicated persons to sleep off their intoxication. Then the next step would be for them to access a day shelter (where they can receive food, assessment and support services). Those are huge steps in getting people off the street.”
Mining company BHP Billiton recently stepped forward to support the project by conducting a feasibility study into these and other options for future service development.
The Yellowknife program is modelled on a similar initiative in Anchorage, Alaska. The Anchorage program has been operating for 20 years and now handles 80 per cent of the public intoxication cases that would otherwise fall to police, according to research by the RCMP. In 2007, the Anchorage transfer station dealt with over 20,000 cases of intoxication.
Fortin estimates that a fully functional program in Yellowknife could save upwards of 7,000 officer hours each year. Medical and social services staff would also see time savings.
“We’re very proud of what’s going to happen,” says Fortin. “If we do it right, it will become a best practice for the rest of the country.”
Yellowknife RCMP currently provide the CSP with liaison services, radio equipment and monitoring, gear storage and volunteer training.
