Local police have increased patrols and the town has hired private security to deal with increased complaints coming from people using the town’s bus shelter for purposes other than waiting for a bus.
Surveillance footage and complaints have indicated there have been people experiencing homelessness using the building as shelter, and there have also been altercations, criminal activity, and drug use reported.
The town's acting executive director of customer and corporate service, Dean Collver, (who is also the director of parks, recreation and culture), said the town has hired security for a pilot project that involves a guard “popping in” at the transit terminal at certain times for enforcement of COVID restrictions and also to offer some “social intervention.”
“They’re making sure people are aware of services they might have access to,” said Collver. “If they’re cold, is there a more appropriate location they can access? If they are showing symptoms of drug dependency … can we provide access between the service and the individual who may be suffering?”
Collver said town staff were prompted to come up with a plan after receiving complaints from residents and requests from OPP for surveillance footage.
“The bus terminal wasn’t being used for its intended purpose and it was actually disrupting its intended purpose, so we felt we had to do something,” he said, noting staff guessed many of the people involved could be vulnerable. “We knew we needed to act, but we wanted to make sure the action was appropriate and measured."
The security firm hired has been told that if someone is using the terminal to warm up, they’re not to be inhibited, but a guard could remind them to wear a mask and practise physical distancing.
“If someone was acting inappropriately, we needed to provide light intervention, but it was not combative intervention,” said Collver. “It’s an unstaffed building and we have nobody there to remind people to wear masks and to maintain their distance … people sitting in a room without masks on is not ideal right now.”
According to Acting Insp. Chris Maecker of the Collingwood/Blue Mountains OPP, there have been issues with people loitering, some altercations, and instances of criminal activity at the Pine Street building.
“The intention of the bus terminal that we have is to serve the community … we want it to be a safe location,” said Maecker. “It’s become a bit of a haven to stay warm. But it wasn’t designed for that, it was really just designed to handle the capacity of people waiting for the bus and not for everyone to warm up downtown.”
Maecker said police have laid trespassing charges and tickets for liquor consumption. There have also been some issues because the washrooms are lockable.
"We've had some instances of criminal activity, but they've really been few and far between," he said, noting drug use is happening, but "not on a consistent basis."
He has asked local OPP officers to make the transit terminal building part of their routine patrols, and officers on foot patrol now park their cruisers at the bus shelter.
Maecker said police have told certain people they’re not to be in the building because of past behaviour, and are keeping a list. If those individuals are back inside the building but not waiting for a bus, they could be charged for trespassing.
“It needs to be used responsibly and it needs to be fair for everybody,” said Maecker. “You have people in there, not waiting for a bus, they’re just trying to stay warm and waiting around … and it has a lot to do with people who really don’t have anywhere to go. … We had that issue at the downtown Tim Hortons and now we have it at the bus shelter.”
The downtown Tim Hortons closed last year.
Police, the town and various social service providers are having conversations about what’s going on at the transit terminal, and the subject has been raised at the community health and wellbeing roundtable, a collection of local agencies that have been meeting regularly throughout the pandemic.
Marg Scheben-Edey, a community advocate and one of the founding members of Collingwood Out of the Cold (temporary homeless shelter), is a member of the roundtable and is looking forward to more discussion on the matter.
“I fully understand why they are doing this, however, I think it is only half of the equation in solving the issues,” she said. “I think there is an opportunity to look at why we are having these problems, how our vulnerable citizens are being helped and not helped in the community, and how we can collectively work together as a community to solve both the bus shelter issues and the needs of those using it.”
Scheben-Edey, Maecker and Collver agree the approach to the issues at the transit terminal need to involve the community as a whole.
“The town, our community, the OPP are looking at … how can we all work together to make it a safe location for the purpose it was intended and designed for,” said Maecker, noting there should also be some discussions about other options for warming centres.
Collver said the input from the table has been important for the town’s pilot security project.
“There’s a lot of analysis going on right now and it will be going on over the next few months, so by the time we’re done, we’ll be in a better position to make a long-term plan suggestion for budgets,” said Collver.
If you or someone you know is experiencing homelessness or needs support of any kind (from help getting groceries to assistance with a hydro bill), you can reach out to Community Connection by dialing 211, and their staff can connect you with local services.
