Police continue to be challenged by the number of calls to the supportive-housing building in the 800 block of Johnson Street that was bought in 2016 to house tent-city residents.
“We do see continuing concern regarding the volume of calls that we have and the criminal element preying on vulnerable people,” Victoria Police Chief Del Manak told Victoria councillors during a quarterly update this week.
Manak said many search warrants were executed at the building in recent months.
“Tremendous amounts of drugs and stolen property were seized as a result of it,” he said.
“There’s a lot of attention that’s required.”
About 50 charges were recommended against one of the building’s residents and hundreds of stolen items, including dozens of pieces of ID, were recovered by police, Manak said.
Another resident was found to have more than 130 grams of crystal methamphetamine when he was arrested for possession for the purpose of trafficking. More than 50 grams of cocaine, oxycodone pills and about seven grams of methamphetamine were seized from the residence, Manak says in his report.
The 147-unit building opened in 2016 as part of the B.C. government’s $26-million investment in social housing to relocate those living in a tent city on the courthouse lawn.
The building has an overdose-prevention site and around-the-clock staff, including social workers and mental-health workers.
Manak said that, at the request of public works, B.C. Housing and Central Baptist Church employees, officers have been providing security in the 900 block of Pandora Avenue for a couple of hours every morning while public-works personnel conduct morning cleanups.
Special-duty members provide weekend coverage and are also deployed in the 800 block of Johnson.
Patrol members continue to spend significant hours in hospital wait rooms for Mental Health Act apprehensions, Manak said.
In 2018, patrol members spent 1,441 hours — equivalent to 120, 12-hour days — in hospital waiting rooms, he said.
Thefts from vehicles in downtown parkades also continued to be a problem in the last quarter of 2018, Manak said.
Police have responded with more foot and bike patrols and increased public education.
Police are also having “significant challenges” with crime and disorder in the Burnside-Gorge area and around Mayfair Shopping Centre, Manak said.
“It’s an area that continues to be of attention to us,” he said.
Calls to assist with an unwanted person topped the list of reported occurrences with 1,933.
He said that ambulance, fire department and city bylaw personnel are “regularly” calling upon police to secure the scene of an incident or to make it safe to enter a location.
