We Need to Call the Police Less

The recently released raw 911 call data for the city of Victoria’s hot spots for homelessness made at least one thing obvious: dialling 911 doesn’t solve anything. These obscene figures illustrate the futility of complaining our way out of social crises like the one we’re facing. We have to look for solutions other than dispatching government goons carrying guns in response to every public nuisance incident.

Today I’ve stumbled onto an alternate resource at Project Reconnect: AVI’s Community-Led Crisis Response (CLCR) team. Want to try a different number? Call 250-818-2454 instead of 911. It’s a team of outreach workers with lived experience of homelessness and mental health training. Granted, they can’t just lock the problem away. What they can do is deescalate tense situations, and perform wellness checks. And if anyone needs to dial 911 in the end, it might as well be them, after they’ve assessed the situation on the ground, which tells more to a dispatcher than vague complaints of rude or erratic behaviour.

That being said, solutions aren’t always one phone call away, and we all need to do our part. Yeah, that means you and me. You’d be amazed how a plate of homemade cookies and fifteen minutes of chatting can help keeping the piece between neighbours. And I mean neighbours; let’s quit viewing every disruptive person as a public nuisance and instead as a reflection of our own failings as a society. You know how I keep the peace at my supportive housing complex? I cook for them, anyone who asks—even the squatters. It works.

Of course that only solves so much; sooner or later we need boots on the ground to defuse crises. You know what’s the number one reason we don’t have enough outreach workers to quell all those fires? It’s not lack of funding (that would be number two) but lack of applicants. Everybody wants to dial a number that makes itches go away, but very few people want to work in the field. The shortage is so dire that charities will hire anyone who can produce a high school diploma and pass a criminal record check, with excellent salaries for entry-level jobs.

Can’t afford to take the job? How about volunteering some of your time to a charity instead? Just about anybody can devote a few hours a week, even if that’s just serving coffee and sandwiches. Don’t presume modest contributions are worthless; every little thing helps, if only by keeping pressure off outreach staff, relieving it for more productive interventions than breaking out fights in the courtyard.

Another role we’re experiencing an acute shortage of is advocate, for two reasons. One, we need people who know existing resources; there’s no point in having the aforementioned CLCR team, for instance, if nobody knows it exists. Also, we need people to relay complaints and propose solutions to our elected representatives (and put some pressure on them if need be). Granted, our mighty overlords send the signal they view people who complain as public nuisances themselves. In this regard, they are society’s mirror, giving us a taste of our own medicine. The solution lies in public engagement instead of disengagement. We have to behave the way we wish public officials did, and become part of the solution.