Midland residents feeling frustration over the downtown increase of abuse and harassment by “problem folks” might be relieved to know that the police and town council are trying to remedy the complex issue.
During an update on increased police enforcement in downtown Midland, Southern Georgian Bay OPP detachment commander Inspector Todd Pittman revealed a few eye-opening facts for members of town council.
The update at the committee of the whole was to allow Pittman to provide information on the 2023 to 2025 detachment action plan for addressing and preventing crime in the community as well as a focus on the waterways, roadways and trail systems. Several statistics he cited reflected a similar presentation he had made to Tay Township council earlier in the month.
However, Pittman didn’t get far into his Midland presentation before asking council for input, and receiving more than a fair share of it.
Coun. Sheldon East, in his first appearance since taking time off for medical leave, hit hard with anecdotes he had received from downtown business owners who were fearful to leave their businesses at night for their vehicles but who were accosted by people asking for money and valuables.
“The parking lots – especially downtown and up by the Tim Hortons on the highway – are very heavily populated with aggression,” said East. “Unfortunately, it paints an image that the downtown core isn't safe, when it really is; it's just there's certain areas that might just need a little bit more attention.” He followed up by requesting a greater police presence during those times.
OPP staffing is at an all-time high, according to Pittman, and his response to East was that the detachment would be coming into its busiest season ever based on past trends.
“One of the things that I'm prepared to do, and something that I'm prepared to take to the officers, is to put out proactive (community) patrols,” said Pittman, cautioning that an evidence-based approach would require knowing what those locations and times were to maximize efficiency.
Coun. Bill Meridis addressed issues of substance and alcohol abuse in the core, citing personal observations and anecdotes regarding local instances; one such involved a business owner discovering a user in their store bathroom.
“The last thing we need is our financial institutions leaving our downtown core,” stated Meridis, expressing frustration at being a town councillor unable to remedy the overall problem. “The open drug use, the alcohol – it's hurting our downtown, it's hurting our community.
“When we transitioned to OPP from Midland Police Service, our level of service to our community shouldn't go down. At that time councillors that were on, sitting in this position, I'm pretty sure they didn't vote for that,” Meridis said, alleging that the community perceived the OPP as not being informed to who was entering the town and who was local, unlike the Midland Police Service.
Pittman countered that OPP knew the newcomers, and stated it was “an unintended consequence” of the shelter system that police were dealing with.
“We actually do know who's up here; we have a lot of people from Toronto that are not a part of this community that are wanted on warrants, that are violent people that we've actually arrested and asked to ship back because of their warrants,” said Pittman.
Coun. Jamie-Lee Ball also expressed frustration while relating community requests regarding the drug house they lived beside, noting that residents have moved away from Midland as a result.
“Why are these not shut down?” Ball asked. “I see that there's been charges laid, but it's not with every owner of the home, it's not with every resident in the home. When you're picking people up from these drug houses, you pick them up at 5:00 a.m. and they're back selling drugs at 5:00 p.m. What am I supposed to tell residents about that?”
Pittman noted that in the last five years, the OPP had laid 22,777 charges with 45 percent withdrawn by the court, stating: “I think it's going to take a systemic change to fix this problem.” Several times during the conversation, he had pointed to the root causes leading to issues in the downtown including poverty, addiction, and a lack of affordable and attainable housing.
As a path for council to pursue, Pittman noted that Penetanguishene had chosen to write a letter “...petitioning the Ministry of the Attorney General saying we need to do better. We need to hold people accountable. Our communities expect it, our police are out there doing the work, our citizens deserve it, we deserve to feel safe in our communities – and (for council) to get behind that.”
Other members of council offered their support and thanks.
Coun. Catherine MacDonald reiterated that a community safety symposium scheduled will meet again later this year; Roberta Bald offered her knowledge as a retired member of the Crown; and Deputy Mayor Beth Prost said she felt relieved that Pittman was responsive to council’s concerns in finding a remedy.
Following the meeting, Mayor Bill Gordon told MidlandToday that while “the eye-opener was that a lot of the problem folks that we’re dealing with here are not locals” wasn’t a shock, the hour-long discussion with council hadn’t raised one key factor contributing to the issue.
“You look at the top three communities for homelessness in Simcoe County, we all have the exact same things in common; Barrie, Orillia and Midland,” said Gordon. “A plethora of amazing support services, which is a blessing and a curse; it’s a waterfront community; and we have a county-funded shelter. So, what do you do?
“None of these things we can change, nor should we. But it’s one of the reasons – and the same appeal that draws people to move here and yearn to stay living here – it shouldn’t come as a shock that if you’re down on your luck or hopelessly addicted… if you’re going to suffer like that, why wouldn’t you want to suffer in a beautiful community like ours?”
Gordon agreed that throwing more police at the issue wasn’t the solution due to capacity and cost, as Pittman had also stated earlier in the evening while remarking on root causes.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
