Meth abuse “community crisis that requires a community response,” police chief says

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This article was published 17/07/2018 (2108 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s methamphetamine problem is driving up crime rates and keeping the police chief up at night.

“I got to tell you, sadly, I don’t think a week goes (by) where I don’t have parents begging me to arrest their kids because it’s the only way they can get them into some kind of treatment,” Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth said Wednesday.

For the hundreds of crimes related to methamphetamine reported in the city, there are scant treatment resources available to channel addicts out of the criminal justice system.

The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, for example, has funding to maintain 36 residential treatment beds for men and 24 beds for women in Winnipeg.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics is expected to shine a light on meth and fentanyl abuse and violent crime Monday, when a national report on crime rates (done annually in co-operation with city police forces across the country) is released.

Ahead of that report, representatives from community non-profit agencies, including from the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, Gang Action Interagency Network and the West End Business Improvement Zone, stood Wednesday alongside police officers in a parking lot on Sargent Avenue. The location is in the middle of the city’s west end, which with the North End, experiences some of the highest rates of meth-related crime in Winnipeg.

At the same time, police cadets hand delivered 1,000 cards under the community intervention “Right to Call” to homes in a six-block area. Contact information on the cards includes police phone numbers and the names of non-profit agencies that offer community services.

“Maybe we’ll find someone who knows someone who has a drug problem and who’s ready for help. Or maybe they know someone who’s in the gang life and is tired of it and is ready to leave. If they need help, there’s information there on exit strategies,” the police chief said.

At the event, AFM medical director Ginette Poulin said: “I’m very pleased to be here to strengthen that commitment, along with other organizations, to have that collaborative approach to address this significant issue… The reality is there is a great need for treatment in this province.”

Grassroots solutions were presented as a way to balance out harsher police action.

“Our role is to co-ordinate the agencies doing this work and fill in gaps other organizations might not have the capacity for,” said Robyn Dryden of GAIN, a one-person office that runs a network to help people who need services connect with community resources. The network is about to roll out a program with two mentors to assist 30 children linked to gangs.

“(Meth abuse) is putting a lot of strain on our police resources and health resources. It is putting a lot of strain on our treatment resources, our shelter resources, on public services… It’s having a huge impact,” the police chief said.

“Meth is a stimulant and it has an effect on the brain, and we are seeing aggressive behaviour, sometimes psychotic behaviour, associated with it.”

The crime rates related to the issue have yet to plateau, the chief said.

“The indicators are showing us it’s getting worse. It hasn’t stabilized yet. We’ve seen a slow increase over the course of two or three years. The clarity of it is becoming clear now,” Smyth said.

The police chief made it clear he’s open to explore harm-reduction strategies used in other centres, including safe-injection sites. The sites have public — but not provincial government — support in Manitoba.

“Police have been working to disrupt gangs but enforcement is only one aspect of what we’re trying to do,” Smyth said. “This is a community crisis that requires a community response.”

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca