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Peterborough police data show calls to addresses within 200 metres of the city’s consumption and treatment site have increased since it opened in 2022, but workers note the nature of those calls is changing.
Details obtained through a freedom of information request, however, do not specify the reasons officers were needed and police did not respond to whether this was reflective of an overall trend seen across the city, which has seen a decrease in crime severity year over year.
In August 2024, the Ford government announced the closure of 10 drug-consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres, as the government announced $378 million would be invested in 19 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs.
As Peterborough awaits word on the status of its HART hub application submitted in October, the consumptions and treatment site will remain operational at its current location on Simcoe Street.
According to Fourcast executive director Donna Rogers, the site received 8,500 visits in 2023 and oversaw 7,800 consumptions.
“What that means is drug use equipment — 7,800 times — did not go to the streets. It was collected. It was stored. It was disposed of within our facility,” Rogers said. “That’s a lot of drug use that didn’t happen outside.”
The rationale for the province to close the facilities, which provide a place for those who use substances to do so under the supervision of staff, was community safety.
“The Ontario government is protecting the safety of children and communities,” a press release announcing the government’s decision read. “The government is also mandating new protections to better protect community safety near remaining sites, including new requirements for safety and security plans, as well as new policies to discourage loitering and promote conflict de-escalation and community engagement.”
Rogers notes that over a four-month period in 2024, there were 11 recorded instances of security needing to intervene inside the consumption site and 10 incidents in the immediate area.
Between April and June 2024, 22 drug poisoning cases and 19 overdoses were treated by CTS staff or emergency medical services.
In the wake of the government’s decision, the Examiner began collecting information on the nature of calls to addresses surrounding Peterborough’s consumption and treatment site, located in the former Greyhound terminal on the corner of Aylmer and Simcoe streets, which opened in June 2022.
Police calls to the Peterborough Public Library dropped by 43 per cent from June to December 2022 compared to the first half of 2022. But, the number of calls in the first half of 2024 increased 41 per cent compared to January to June 2022.
The police service declined to comment or provide insight on the nature of the calls to specific areas near the consumption site, but multiple public presentations by the police service have emphasized a decreasing rate of violent crime in the community. Meanwhile, rates of non-violent offences, including property theft and breach of probation, have continued to rise.
As part of internal processes, library staff tracks incidents that require intervention as well as those that require police or emergency support.
Library CEO Jennifer Jones explained there has been a shift in the kinds of incidents encountered while working. Since the opening of the consumption site, she said drug-related incidents have levelled or dropped while other behaviours have continued.
“Over the last two years, what’s happened is it’s not just drugs,” Jones said. “We’re getting the people camping and hanging out all day. It’s tricky because we’re a library, so we totally want you to please come hang out — that’s the point. But then you still have to behave and follow the rules.”
Jones provided a breakdown of each incident at the library from January 2023 until mid-November 2024. During that time, Jones and her staff have recorded 168 separate incidents.
Still, the library’s own records indicate emergency services were called by staff 60 times during the same period, while the majority of the calls came in response to drug and alcohol use as well as violence and mental health emergencies.
Jones says, to some degree, the reduction in calls is a result of being able to work with the staff at the consumption site, which she says makes a big difference.
Rogers says people who use substances, are living with mental illness, are experiencing homelessness — or all three — have complex and interrelated issues.
“The tragedies that are not being addressed are pieces that you see all of that and sometimes that results in crime, so it’s tough to assess the criminal element of that and understand what we’re seeing in terms of calls for service,” she said.
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