City to strictly enforce vagrancy bylaws while offering supports

Cold Lake, AB - The City of Cold Lake will continue to take steps to ensure that vagrancy and anti-social behaviour do not pose a public safety risk in the City of Cold Lake.

The City of Cold Lake has worked closely with the Cold Lake John Howard Society to ensure that people who do not have a place to stay can find shelter, as well as access to supports for addictions and mental health issues. Threats of violence and an increase in aggressive behaviour amongst those accessing the shelter, however, have led the outreach staff to shut down operations several times.

"It's concerning to hear that the potential for violence has led professional social workers to pause their operations," Mayor Craig Copeland said. "It is important to help those in our community who are in a vulnerable position, who have become unhoused, or who are suffering through addictions or mental health issues. It is equally as important to protect the people who are dedicated to helping them, the investment business people have made in our community, and the public at large."

The City of Cold Lake's Municipal Enforcement Department has been working with the RCMP to ensure that vagrancy, aggressive panhandling, illegal camps, warming fires, and other anti-social and dangerous acts are being charged or ticketed as appropriate. Focus is especially being placed where individuals are found to consistently and habitually engage in such behavior. An enforcement initiative is underway in Cold Lake in targeted areas.

Many of the individuals who have been found to repeatedly threaten violence and create illegal encampments with dangerous warming fires have been in and out of the court system with little to no consequences for their actions. If the fines do not curb the danger to the public, and the behaviour continues to a point where the fines have accumulated, the City will seek to have individuals face jail time in penitentiaries under provisions that levy penalties for unpaid fines.

"The residents of Cold Lake have gone to great extent and significant expense to provide shelter and support for vulnerable people," Copeland said. "At the same time, we need to ensure that the residents of Cold Lake and their businesses are not victimized as a result. Our police and peace officers have done their part, but the courts all too often fail to provide meaningful justice. We will take all steps available to us to keep our community safe."

The City of Cold Lake has noticed that there are several new habitual offenders in town and the brazenness and severity of the vagrancy has significantly intensified over the past several weeks. Based on information supplied by outreach workers, the homeless count has jumped from 156 to 195 over the past month.

"I've personally been attending court here in Cold Lake and I'm very concerned with what I'm seeing happening, and not happening, in our judicial system," Copeland said.

Cold Lake City Council has asked administration to monitor the judicial system's progress as it relates to the City's enforcement measures with the joint RCMP and Municipal Enforcement effort.