People who use the supervised safe drug consumption site in the Beltline worry it will be taken away if a solution to safety concerns isn’t found soon.
Last week, a Calgary police service report highlighted big increase in crime around the facility which is located in the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre on the 12 hundred bock of 4 Street Southwest.
The city is trying to do something quickly but others say it’s time to question whether the facility should be there in the first place.
Lahtiesha has been homeless for six years and is addicted to fentanyl and says the safe consumption site has been a godsend.
“Now we don't have to worry about going into some staircase and being caught by the cops because the cops are not allowed in the safe works and that's one thing we can feel safe about,” she says.
A police report released last week shows a 29 per cent increase in police calls since the site opened permanently last year and even bigger spikes in drug dealing, violence and break and enters.
Ward 8 councillor Evan Woolley wants more mental health and addictions experts at the facility and daily needle cleanups.
“We have to keep the neighbourhood safe this will not be a successful program never mind at the Chumir, we're looking to expand this to different locations and there's a knock off effect across the country on this,” says Woolley.
“We can't be knee-jerk about this we have to protect the ability to save people's lives as well as the ability to get the right long-term strategy in place but at the same time with gotta make sure that the immediate neighbors are bearing the brunt of all of this,” says Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Nearby businesses say shoplifting is up and they’ve lost customers because of the crowd attracted by the facility and it’s time to determine of the site should be moved.
“There's no denying supervise consumption services work but this is an extremely delicate and fragile area that’s been happy heavily impacted by this,” says David Low the Executive Director of the Victoria Park Business Improvement Area.
On Monday night, city council unanimously passed Woolley’s motion.
The 12 point plan includes having police come before a city committee next week to answer questions, calls for more mental health experts at the facility, more needle cleanups, and to discuss putting a permanent police station in the centre of the city again.
(With files from Shaun Frenette)
