After reports have been coming in from the community to the city of fires being set in the downtown, Mayor Surinderpal Rathor urged residents to call 911 if they see something suspicious.
During a discussion at the April 1 council meeting after an update from Insp. Robert Lake, officer in charge of the Williams Lake RCMP detachment, council raised concerns around the unhoused population in the downtown.
"It's a frustrating situation," said Rathor, asking the community not to take the law into their own hands. He said if people call 911 then this helps the city make a stronger case to other levels of government for support.
Coun. Scott Nelson asked Lake about what Nelson said were a number of fires unhoused people were setting in the downtown. Nelson said there was a significant increase in homeless people coming into the community in recent weeks.
Nelson then suggested there were five to seven fires set in the downtown within the last five days lit by unhoused people and asked Lake how the RCMP would be ensuring there was enough enforcement to deal with the issues.
"I think that's a very complex question and it's a complex answer," said Lake.
“I have no statistics to indicate that the homeless or the unhoused population had anything to do with any fires at this point," said Lake, but he asked Nelson to share any information he had.
Nelson said he has been getting a number of calls from the public and many business owners in the downtown are feeling "unsettled" about the increased number of unhoused people in the downtown area.
"I do understand that the transient, unhoused population is an optical issue to certain individuals, however, it's a societal issue, not a policing matter," said Lake. He acknowledged there can be safety issues related to bylaw enforcement involving the unhoused population.
"We'll make sure that we are there to assist in every way shape or form," he said, noting the RCMP had already been working closely with the city to address these issues, including a recent clearing out at Spirit Square.
Gary Muraca, chief administrative officer for the city, said it is clear there are homeless people lighting fires in the downtown, but these are not necessarily getting reported to the proper authorities.
Nelson also expressed concerns around the amount of drinking and drug activity in the downtown core.
Support services in the community were set to conduct a homeless count this week as well, which could clarify whether the numbers are higher than in the past.
The CAO had sent an update to council informing them of bylaw staff finding knives and machetes in some of the camps they have dismantled, leading to safety concerns for staff.
"I'm just echoing what I'm hearing from the business community and from residents," said Nelson as he expressed his alarm.
Lake later explained to the Tribune the RCMP has not seen an increase in knives, machetes or other weapons among the unhoused population in the city, but he emphasized the RCMP's desire to support bylaw and ensure public safety.
"The RCMP will never expect bylaw staff to put themselves in an unsafe position, and if there are safety concerns present, we will commit to ensuring we tackle to issues collaboratively," said Lake.
Muraca said he has been keeping the RCMP informed about what the city is seeing but the incidents being reported to the city and councillors are not always being reported to the RCMP or fire department. Muraca said bylaw officers have been finding knives and other weapons in camps, which has given rise to safety concerns.
"It's one of those things that we have to be vigilant as a community and the business owners to make sure that they're reporting appropriately," said Muraca.
"Bylaw are not cops," he said, noting the staff don't feel they are being viewed as a deterrent for some of the unhoused population.
"We will intervene when needed," said Lake, noting attending these camps with bylaw officers does still have to be triaged with their other calls for RCMP service.
"Yesterday we had 27 calls for service in a nine-hour shift," said Lake to give context to why the city may sometimes have to wait, noting they want to get there as soon as they can.
Muraca said bylaw staff are also limited in their ability to deal with these issues, and said the staff will be erring on the side of caution going forward.
Coun. Angie Delaney said the issue means the city is "bleeding" resources and while not everyone in the unhoused population is a problem, there is fear in the community and there can be a criminal element involved. She said the drugs which exist today have changed things and suggested the city try to collect data to be able to better advocate on behalf of the community.
"This all costs money and it takes away from bylaw to be able to do their job or RCMP to be able to do their job," she said.
Coun. Joan Flaspohler urged the community and business owners to be as proactive as possible by trying to ensure there is not clutter or garbage next to their building to help reduce risks of fires.
"I just want the community to think that way also as we work as a whole team to make it better," she said.
In the fall of 2024, the city passed new bylaws in an attempt to address tents and camps in the downtown, with a status quo enforcement option, allocating no new resources for the issues related to temporary shelters in parks and on city property.
One was a new parks and public lands bylaw and the other was a notice enforcement amendment bylaw. Muraca said the staff are working on another report to look at overnight sheltering locations for when shelters are full. He expects the report to be included in the agenda for a meeting on April 29.
