#TakebackHope, a group which began on Facebook, presented their concerns about aggressive panhandling to district council Monday.
Cindy Koszegi, the de facto leader of the group and owner of Hope Optical, said the main concerns are with individuals who utter threats, steal, panhandle in an aggressive manner, defecate, urinate, use drugs and alcohol in public in downtown Hope. She said many of the ‘prolific offenders’ were not homeless, they are residents of Hope and surrounding communities.
“I gotta say, here we are again. Do we remember doing this a year or so ago?,” she began, referencing a presentation she made on the same issue to council in August 2017.
She told council what was needed was a community safety patrol, as the RCMP were doing the best that they could facing a large area of policing and not enough officers.
“Patrols that are currently provided, whether by the bylaw officer or the RCMP, really aren’t frequent enough to make an appreciable and lasting difference,” she said. She cited Hope’s good neighbour bylaw, where infractions including panhandling, noise and littering are met with a fine.
“Ticketing someone who is homeless is a waste of everyone’s time, unfortunately,” Mayor Wilfried Vicktor said after Koszegi’s presentation.
Koszegi suggested other ways to recover the money, such as restorative justice and community service.
A 10-day community safety patrol pilot project in September 2017 was a success, Koszegi argued, citing quick response time when called, a direct phone connection to the patrolling members and a reduction of incidents downtown.
Koszegi also brought up two cities — Kelowna and Langford — who have community patrol programs which could be a model for Hope.
“By having foot patrol dedicated to the streets of Hope, there is greater likelihood of encountering situations that need their attention. Bicycle patrols would also be desirable,” she said.
Coun. Stewin asked how much the patrols would cost, Koszegi replied that she would like to see seasonal patrols from May to the end of September at a cost of $4,7000 per month per patrolling member working 40 hours a week. Two members are preferable, Koszegi said.
She asked whether the district would consider contributing to such an initiative.
“It’s not included in this year’s budget, but if there’s some innovative financing options that you come up with, I guess that’s something that we can certainly look at,” Vicktor said.
Koszegi said the group will now be looking at grants —federal, provincial and corporate —which could be received by the Chamber of Commerce, AdvantageHOPE or the district.
Vicktor and Koszegi differed on their perceptions of how much of a problem aggressive panhandling and negative behaviour is this year compared to last. Vicktor said he polled his staff and found there had been a reduction this year, while Koszegi said she had seen an increase in negative behaviour by a small number of street entrenched people.
In response to Koszegi’s concerns, both the mayor and Coun. Heather Stewin said turning to the RCMP is the best approach. “Call and call and call and call. Don’t stop calling,” Stewin said, adding as a former business owner she understood Koszegi’s frustration.
“I think the old adage ‘no call too small’ we can apply in our community,” Vicktor said. “If you see anything that is inappropriate definitely phone the police because I think we have to have zero tolerance for disrespectful behaviour in our community.”
Vicktor told the delegation he was happy to see a mature approach from them, as he was very concerned by a screenshot of a post on the #takebackHope Facebook group he saw which appeared to incite violence against homeless people.
The group has been criticized online, by not taking down quickly enough photos where people can be identified and posts which appear to incite vigilante justice.
At a rally held on Saturday in Memorial Park, with 25 participants, Koszegi admitted posting photos online of people engaging in ‘negative behaviours’ or sleeping isn’t fair, however, the harassment faced by residents was also not fair.
“Public shaming for those who shame themselves is a poor way to do it, however, unless you actually come down here and see that, some people aren’t aware of it,” she said. “At the very least, faces should be blocked out, the people may be recognizable. They are the ones who have put themselves into the position of having the opportunistic take photos of them.”
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