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![\"Stephanie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/StephanieKelton_presents_size_thumb_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSFU brings the renowned economist to Vancouver for a fireside chat on rethinking government spending.<\/p>\n
But another thing comes up again and again in conversations \u2014 stories of encounters with police. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe actually had to move right out of the inner city and the other side of the river just to stop being harassed by cops,\u201d Gerald said. \u201cThey\u2019re ripping up tents, they\u2019re ripping up blankets. They\u2019re taking away your right to live and well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerald has been unhoused in Edmonton for about seven years. He lost his housing after an injury left him unable to work. Years later, he\u2019s still on a wait-list to get surgery. <\/p>\n
He does what he can to help others out, such as volunteering at a local church that provides a weekly supper, food hampers and clothes for unhoused people. The Tyee is referring to Gerald by his first name only to preserve his privacy.<\/p>\n
While Gerald said the community takes care of one another, living on the streets is still a struggle. He described having to start from Square 1 nearly every week after his belongings are taken. On top of that, Gerald said police frequently give out tickets that he can\u2019t pay for jaywalking, trespassing or theft.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just like they\u2019re on a ruthless road to get rid of all homeless people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s noticed an increase in police presence downtown and around transit centres. <\/p>\n
According to Homeward Trust\u2019s 2025 Point-in-Time count, 3,709 people in Edmonton were experiencing homelessness. That\u2019s up 86 per cent from 2021, but down slightly from 2024\u2019s count of 3,902.<\/p>\n
The city has grappled with how to tackle the visible homelessness and substance use crisis. The Edmonton Police Service, or EPS, has responded to the concerns of public safety and social disorder with plans for more targeted enforcement. <\/p>\n
Edmonton police Chief Warren Driechel said at a press conference on May 8: \u201cOver the last few years, our city, like many others, has moved towards accepting things we should never have accepted. Illegal drug use, visible disorder in our public spaces and behaviour that makes people feel unsafe in their own neighbourhoods and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here today to say that that cycle ends now, and we will no longer be tolerant of what is happening in our streets or in our city,\u201d Driechel said. \u201cNormalizing disorder doesn\u2019t make it go away. It makes it worse.\u201d <\/p>\n
Driechel referenced EPS\u2019s public survey data that found 72 per cent of people were not comfortable using transit after dark. One in three people said they felt unsafe in their neighbourhoods. <\/p>\n
Driechel said Edmonton police would be taking a data-driven approach to deploy more resources to areas with higher crime, otherwise called crime treatment zones. He said EPS had seen a 13 per cent decrease in crime between March 12 and April 8 in the downtown core as a result of these early efforts.<\/p>\n
Acting Supt. Jared Hrycun noted at the press conference that EPS had found similar success in McCauley and Chinatown, two neighbourhoods bordering downtown. EPS also found success in targeted enforcement in Castle Downs, a neighbourhood in north Edmonton.<\/p>\n
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Dan Jones spent 25 years in the Edmonton Police Service before becoming an instructor at NorQuest College\u2019s justice program.<\/p>\n
Jones said he feels for business owners who struggle due to the prevalence of homelessness in Edmonton\u2019s downtown. <\/p>\n
But he said that when police clear out encampments, the losses are devastating for unhoused people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re unhoused and the police clean up your encampment \u2014 and I\u2019ve seen this happen and talked to people who\u2019ve had this happen when I was a police officer \u2014 when the last picture of their dead grandmother was thrown away by police, [I\u2019ve seen the] impact that has on those individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crime treatment zones aren\u2019t the first time EPS has put more officers into specific areas of concern. Jones noted that former Edmonton police chief Dale McFee spearheaded a police strategy that saw groups of six to eight officers walking in targeted zones. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat is actually counter to evidence if you look at evidence-based policing practices,\u201d Jones explained. \u201cThat would be what\u2019s called blitz policing. When you blitz a crime treatment area or a hot spot, you actually increase the harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said research has shown that crime temporarily goes down in areas where blitz policing is employed but later spikes back up.<\/p>\n
Jones said many of the issues he sees with policing root back to a disconnect between evidence-based policing and the realities of policing. He said pressure within the police force itself and from the public often pushes police to aim for quick results instead of evidence-based, lasting solutions.<\/p>\n
\u2018People will do anything when they\u2019re desperate\u2019<\/p>\n
Rebecca Reid has been volunteering with organizations that do outreach for unhoused individuals for 25 years. When COVID-19 hit and some of those services shut down, she took matters into her own hands. <\/p>\n
What initially started as four people handing out water has turned into much more. Each Thursday Water Warriors hands out water, sandwiches, snacks, hygiene products and naloxone kits to people living on Edmonton\u2019s streets. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s seen first-hand and heard from others about the mistreatment of unhoused people in Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have friends that are on the [police] force and they\u2019re good people, but there\u2019s also people that are not so good on the force,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve noticed when they see us, they will treat unhoused folks differently than they would if we weren\u2019t around.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Around](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/WaterWarriorsEdmonton.jpg\")
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Water Warriors volunteers prepare for their weekly street outreach in downtown Edmonton.
\nPhoto for The Tyee by Leah Hennig.<\/p>\n
She pointed over to a path near where Water Warriors meets each week. \u201cWe noticed it happening right over here. They were looking for somebody and they were kind of being a little rough with the guy, and then we raised our voices so that they knew that we were over here, and all of a sudden they got polite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reid added that they\u2019ve also witnessed the destruction and theft of property. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese folks are taking away blankets and tarps and tents, things that these folks need to shelter themselves from the elements and actually survive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGroups like ours are fighting a losing battle because we\u2019ll supply [unhoused people] with everything they need last week, and then they\u2019re back again this week because they\u2019ve had everything taken.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his May 8 press conference, Edmonton police Chief Driechel said officers deal with complex issues around mental health, substance use and organized crime. \u201cThey act with compassion. They enforce where necessary, and they provide options for support for those in need. It is a very delicate balance. I’m very proud of what our members and teams have already accomplished in such a short time due to their relentless followup and follow-through.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what some community members have seen isn\u2019t compassion. <\/p>\n
Gerald said an officer had threatened to come back off-duty and assault him. In another case, he was chased by officers.<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/p>\n \u2018Smoked\u2019 by a Hit-and-Run Driver, Then Ignored by Police<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tread more <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the kinds of things that we deal with on a daily basis,\u201d he said. Others The Tyee spoke with described similar experiences with police. <\/p>\n He described feeling hunted by police officers. That pushes people towards gangs for a feeling of safety, he added. <\/p>\n \u201cIf people here had been left alone with their stuff, I don\u2019t think there\u2019d be half the crime rate,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople will do anything when they\u2019re desperate, but when your life is on the line, you really don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to make it to the next day, you do what you got to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones said community organizations have reached out to him when they see police officers mistreating unhoused people.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard it from community organizations that have got in contact with me saying that there\u2019s six or eight police officers harassing unhoused people in their community… what should they do about it?\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n EPS did not respond to The Tyee\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Anne Stevenson, city councillor for Ward O-day\u2019min and a member of the Edmonton Police Commission, has heard some of these concerns. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s always a concern. I think, as [an elected official], what\u2019s challenging is we can only act on data or on reports,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s tougher when we\u2019re only having anecdotes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Police alone cannot solve this problem\u2019<\/p>\n One thing Gerald, Stevenson, Reid, Jones and Driechel all agree on is that policing won\u2019t solve the issues Edmontonians see downtown.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a broad recognition, and I hear it from EPS members, that policing isn\u2019t the solution for the challenges that we\u2019re seeing,\u201d Stevenson said.<\/p>\n Driechel echoed this during his press conference on May 8, saying that \u201cpolice alone cannot solve this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n The Hidden Injury That\u2019s Increasing Homelessness<\/p>\n![\"image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/EddieDickHome__square_thumb.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n![\"image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/HomelessBrainInjuryMain__square_thumb.jpg\")
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