Police seize drugs 218 times in 1st month of cracking down on open drug use in London

A campaign launched to crack down on open drug use in London's core recorded 218 drug seizures by police in its first three weeks, the head of the London police foot patrol unit says.

London's police chief unveiled the approach, dubbed Project Pathways, during a news conference on April 8. The seizure tally spans its launch that day through to April 30, said Staff Sgt. Sherri Baltzer.

"I think it's going really well. We've had a lot of positive feedback from the community at large," Baltzer told CBC News. There's been a "marked difference" in the way people using drugs are responding to officers, she said.

"A lot of times in the past, they weren't even making any effort to hide it, even when officers were coming up … We're still finding a significant amount of that, but nothing near what it was." 

The aim is to deter such open drug use, which has become a visible issue, and provide pathways to support services. To do that, police increased foot patrol officers and patrols in downtown, midtown, and Old East Village, with some paired with health care workers.

The public's perception was that police were "just walking by" blatant, open drug use, Chief Thai Truong said last month.

"We've heard that loud and clear. We're expecting our officers to engage … we need to pivot."

Of the 218 seizures in April, most involved fentanyl and ended with officers not laying charges for personal amounts, a decision up to the discretion of each member of foot patrol, which numbers 27 constables, two sergeants and Baltzer.

"They're not typically laying a charge unless circumstances dictate they should lay the charge," such as how often they've been spoken to, and where they were using. 

Roughly 49 per cent of their calls in April were related to trespassing, and 46 per cent to in-progress drug use, Baltzer said, adding officers had seized no firearms.

Most people the unit interacts with are known to them by name, and will oftentimes voluntarily turn over their drugs, she said. Some searches have turned up larger drug amounts, leading to charges for possessing for trafficking.

"If they're illegal drugs, then we are seizing them," she said. "If there's someone using openly, that's our first engagement with them, and we will seize those drugs, or if they have a small amount in a pipe or on a piece of tin foil, we will seize that and tag that for destruction."

Most interactions involve compliant individuals who receive a warning and are advised of resources, however fewer people than expected are biting.

"I was hopeful more people would accept the resources we're offering, or that we're saying are available," Baltzer said.

Police can't force someone into harm reduction or recovery, but can serve as a contact for social agencies, and provide transportation assistance.

Participants with London's Carepoint Consumption and Treatment Service site have told workers they were referred by police, said Megan Van Boheemen, director of harm reduction services with Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC).

In some cases, officers have walked with participants to the site, she said. 

Nearly 1,900 people accessed Carepoint in April, up from the monthly average of 1,500, and staff responded to 28 overdoses, also above average, Van Boheemen said. Given Project Pathways is still new, she declined to draw a direct correlation between it and the increases.

Police have been collaborative in developing the project, working with RHAC, London Health Sciences Centre, and other agencies. To prepare, foot patrol officers toured Carepoint and got a rundown of its operations, Baltzer said.

Like other province-funded consumption sites, Carepoint participants can only ingest, inject, and snort their drugs. Only two facilities in Canada offer supervised inhalation services — Casey House in Toronto, and Prairie Harm Reduction in Saskatoon. 

"People who inhale their substances don't have a place anywhere in the community to safely use," and seizing drugs can put them in a cycle of needing to get more, said Chris Moss, executive director of London Cares. 

"It's a negative cycle that does increase criminality in the community, it could increase violence and can increase escalations … Taking it away isn't solving any problems, it's actually perpetuating more."

The problem is compounded by a lack of medicated withdrawal options for those with fentanyl addictions, who can't just quit cold turkey, she said. She's concerned people may just go elsewhere, out of view, to avoid having drugs confiscated. 

"I certainly hope that's not an end result, but none of our statistics right now show that that's the case," Baltzer said of increased criminality. She says there's no evidence to suggest that it was pushing people into areas where they may overdose alone.

Drugs are illegal, and in fentanyl's case deadly, and the police have an obligation to enforce the law and are doing so compassionately, she said.