Increased police presence in ByWard Market pushing vulnerable people into Centretown, councillor says

Growing safety concerns in Centretown Coun. Ariel Troster says more police in the ByWard Market is pushing vulnerable people into Centretown. CTV's Katie Griffin reports.

The increased police presence in Ottawa's ByWard Market this summer is pushing more vulnerable people into Centretown and placing "additional pressure" on resources in the neighbourhood, according to the ward councillor.

In an Instagram video posted Monday afternoon, Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster said she met with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe to "demand solutions to the additional pressure that has been placed on Centretown in recent weeks."

"I had a conversation with him about the impact of increased policing in the ByWard Market and how it has been pushing more vulnerable people into Centretown," Troster said in the 90 second video.

"It's been something we've all been noticing. There have been more people gathering, using drugs in public and there have been some fights and some aggression happening among people who often don't have another place to go."

The Ottawa Police Service opened a police operational hub in the Rideau Centre in late June, and has increased its presence in the ByWard Market and Rideau Street area this summer. Police are also focusing on eight "hot spots" for crime and social disorder as part of the new "community outreach response and engagement strategy."

But Troster says Ottawa "cannot police our way out of an addiction crisis or a homelessness crisis," and more social supports are needed in Centretown and across the city.

"I communicated very clearly that it is unacceptable to increase policing in one part of downtown and push people into another," Troster said, adding Ottawa needs a "sustainable solution and more support."

"What they need are services, support 24 hours-a-day low barrier places to go. We already have the wonderful Centre 507 which is operating 24 hours a day, but it's completely overwhelmed. And we have the wonderful ANCHOR Program, which is launching Aug. 15 which is the new alternative 24 hour a day crisis support program. But, in the meantime, we need more; we need more outreach help, we need more housing, we need more supports and we need to make it very clear we cannot police our way out of an addiction crisis or a homelessness crisis."

The Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) program will launch on Aug. 15, a new 24/7 non-police crisis response team in Centretown. People in Centretown can call 2-1-1 to request a mobile crisis team for themselves or someone else in a mental health or substance use crisis and a team of crisis response workers will respond any time day or night.

Troster says Sutcliffe took Centretown residents' concerns "very seriously," and the councillor is promising to provide an update on the "solutions we're planning to implement together" at Ottawa City Hall in the future.

"We do want the police to come in the case of a public safety emergency, but we also want to make sure we have the right resources to help people who are struggling and to make sure that we're not shuffling them from one neighbourhood to another," Troster said.

Sutcliffe told reporters on Tuesday that there have been meetings over the "last couple of days" to discuss issues in the downtown and ByWard Market areas.

"We've been working closely with Community Services and the Ottawa Police Service to make sure that every part of downtown Ottawa is safe for residents and for business owners and employees," Sutcliffe said.

"So as we tackle some of the challenges in the ByWard Market, we're going to continue to work with business owners on Bank Street and residents of Centretown to make sure their needs are looked after as well."

“Like everybody else, we all want our community to be safe,” said Brenda Knight with the Centretown Community Association.

“And, you know, especially the people that have young kids with the needles going around and seeing the people on the street, the fights and stuff like this that we weren't having to this same level in the past.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Ted Raymond