When it comes to tackling issues surrounding homelessness, addictions and mental health, “the ministries are not speaking to each other,” Greater Sudbury Police Service Chief Sara Cunningham said.
“We pick up the pieces.”
Pressed on various issues surrounding the vulnerable population, primarily seen in Sudbury’s downtown core, Cunningham shed light on this perceived gap in tackling the “public health crisis” during Wednesday’s police board meeting.
Asked about this disconnect between provincial ministries after Wednesday’s meeting, Cunningham reiterated that there’s a communications gap.
“If I had a crystal ball, it would be that each ministry addresses the concerns that fall in their purview,” she said. “Unfortunately, there is so much overlap, and that is where those co-ordinated conversations have to happen at a higher level.”
Locally, she said, “community partners are working extremely well together,” but there’s only so much they can do when such things as funding needs are between provincial jurisdictions.
“Where we see some of the disconnect is with the ministries not speaking to each other.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, Cunningham highlighted recent efforts in downtown Sudbury, which included a series of focused patrols in downtown Sudbury so far this year.
Between July and August, police focused on increased visibility in the city’s downtown core, patrolling mainly on foot and bicycle, conducting 1,321 focused patrols in which they engaged with 7,088 people, of whom 1,449 were referred to services such as the cooling shelter, crisis response teams, The Go-Give Project outreach and the homelessness network.
Police also seized 10 weapons, $22,000 worth of illicit drugs, executed 129 warrants and laid 81 provincial and federal charges.
Police have been sharing a “Not here, not now” message to put an end to open drug use downtown.
“Our officers were armed with not just seizing your drugs and telling you to get out of here, we were providing resources on where they could move and get services,” Cunningham said, describing this as a “holistic and wrap-around approach.”
Police have worked with Réseau ACCESS Network to develop a pamphlet to educate people on where they might go to receive services.
“We, the police alone are not solving the problem, the city alone is not solving the problem, HSN is not solving the problem,” Cunningham told the police board on Wednesday, adding that the greatest gains have been found in such things as mobile crisis, where there’s “a co-ordinated, collaborative approach.”
Jurisdictional issues were front and centre in board chair Gerry Lougheed’s comments during Wednesday’s meeting, during which he said, “I think somehow, we haven’t unbundled this to identify who can fix what problems.”
Lougheed questioned “meetings for the sake of meetings,” and requested that the board be presented with “deliverables that make some difference” at their next meeting in October, including direct actions such as points of advocacy directed at the provincial government.
During the meeting, Lougheed promoted the idea of a centralized hub at Energy Court in downtown Sudbury where the vulnerable community can access all the services they need.
Cunningham echoed this sentiment post-meeting, telling Sudbury.com that places like Kingston have a centralized care hub.
“It allows one centralized location where people can go and access services, and not only services but facilities, washroom facilities, food services, shower facilities, so we’d love to see that for our vulnerable population,” she said.
The province announced funding for two HART Hub projects in Sudbury earlier this year, including at the 40-unit transitional housing complex on Lorraine Street which is in the process of fully opening and another unspecified project in downtown Sudbury. The downtown project has yet to come together and details regarding what, exactly, it will consist of have not been released.
Cunningham said that GSPS has similarly not been made aware of this project’s specifics.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.