I do. Thank you very much.
I would like to thank the Ministry of Public Safety for providing me with an opportunity to speak to you today. As introduced, my name is Matt Skof. I'm president of the Ottawa Police Association.
I've worked in policing for 18 years and have had a vast and challenging career. I've worked in all patrol areas in the city of Ottawa. This included the downtown community district office in the ByWard Market, and in Vanier. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with these areas, they present unique challenges for police. They are more heavily populated, they have higher levels of homelessness, poverty, higher crime in both major and minor classes, drugs, prostitution, and mental health issues.
When I became a sergeant, I remained in the district working closely with the residents and businesses in the ByWard Market. I represented the Ottawa Police Service on many community committees that covered addiction problems, homelessness, prostitution, and mental health issues.
For the past three years I have been serving the membership of the Ottawa Police Association as president, representing 1,400 sworn police officers and 600 civilians. As president, I have been called upon many times to comment on the issue of supervised injection sites. I believe it is more appropriate to characterize safe injection sites as supervised sites. From a policing perspective these facilities continue the use of highly addictive substances. While I appreciate the argument that they are alternatives to shooting up in back alleys, the supervised injection sites perpetuate and encourage heavy, damaging drug use.
We are here today to consider public policy issues in relation to injection sites. In my view, it is crucial that within this debate we hold all the evidence up to the light for its full and careful consideration.
Last year I participated in a press event held by ministers Leona Aglukkaq and Steven Blaney , where new guidelines were introduced. At that time, questions were raised about the principal argument made by advocates of supervised sites, most particularly the suggestion that supervised sites decrease HIV infection rates.
You can see in tab 2...and unfortunately, I didn't have it translated. I wasn't sure if a speech had to be translated, so I apologize for that. There are 20 copies that will be translated for you, apparently.
I have carefully examined the data, and it does cause me great concern. I want to share that concern with this committee today.
When we examine the data, it is noteworthy that in Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada the frequency of new cases of HIV has decreased, just as it has in British Columbia. This fact appears to have been overlooked in the arguments raised by proponents of supervised sites. Arguments that urge you to expand injection sites must be complete. When considering HIV rates overall, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces do not permit supervised sites, and yet have comparable improvements in HIV data. Suggesting there is a nexus between supervised sites and improved HIV outcomes is tenuous. The evidence makes it clear that making that claim is incomplete.
At the heart of this discussion, though, is the fundamental question “Where will supervised sites be located?” Based on my experience, this question is often reframed to be “Which neighbourhood will be sacrificed?” This is given the fact that several square blocks are allocated to the transporting of illegal narcotics that are consumed at the supervised injection sites.
With regard to InSite, at tab 3 of my material the committee will find photographs I took last year when I attended a conference in Vancouver. My purpose in including these photographs is to illustrate the challenges the business communities and local residents face on a day-to-day basis. Nearly all of the properties had to go to great lengths, and at times significant expense, to ensure the safety of their clients and the security of their property.
Police encounter a number of issues in the areas allocated to supervised sites. Most concerning is that there will be a boundary in which the possession of illegal drugs will be tolerated. This area will become known to drug users and traffickers within hours of its creation. In creating injection sites, we create concentrated trafficking zones. Traffickers will carry only enough drugs to make small but frequent transactions. If stopped by the police, these traffickers will claim immunity, relying on the presumption of innocent possession within a known boundary around the supervised injection site.
If you look at tab 4, in the first picture you can see two males, one with a red knapsack and one with a green one. I observed the two males working in tandem while the male with the red knapsack trafficked drugs. In the second photograph, I observed the male in the camouflage pants traffick drugs to the male walking away from him in the brown jacket.
Both of these photographs were taken in close proximity to InSite. Neither of the two persons who purchased drugs walked into InSite, but went in the opposite direction. I stayed in the area for several hours and observed many transactions of this nature.
We return to the fundamental question of “Do you still want to live in this neighbourhood, or near it?” Before answering, it is necessary to consider that these surrounding areas have increased levels of prostitution, homelessness, and antisocial crime—theft, burglary, and swarmings. Clients of supervised injection sites often fall into these behaviours for the purpose of supporting their habit.
In tab 5, the photo was taken in an alley two blocks from InSite. The male did not live in the area, but attended for the purpose of dumpster diving and to find and sell anything of value. My observations were confirmed when I spoke directly with this individual. He was very candid with me that he was trying to support his drug addiction.
I have no reservations in telling this committee, based on my policing experience, that locating a supervised injection site brings an increase in crime. These crimes extend well beyond consuming drugs in a supervised location. Individuals who purchase drugs in these areas often walk away from the supervised location to shoot up in alleyways, stairwells, and parking lots within the local community.
At tab 6, I provide you with a photo of a group of people in front of the Carnegie Community Centre in Vancouver, blocks away from InSite and smoking what seems to be crack cocaine. I have to tell the committee that this photograph causes me a lot of concern. In my capacity as a police officer, I've coordinated several street-level drug projects in the ByWard Market and the Vanier area. At no time did I ever observe drug use in which the consumer smoked crack cocaine sitting in front of a community centre, nor have I ever observed someone smoking crack with such disregard for public scrutiny.
Let me be clear: I accept that we do have a drug issue in our community. I observed it at the street level, and often on a daily basis. When we consider alternative approaches to treating these conditions, we must be honest with each other. In Ottawa the distribution of rubber tips to limit the spread of disease from sharing crack pipes failed, because the users claimed they changed the taste of the drugs being inhaled. The needle exchange program required volunteer needle hunters to recover used equipment. Ottawa has many social programs trying to address these growing social problems. Supervised injection sites might have the best intentions, but they fail, increasing the attendant issues of trafficking, prostitution, theft, homelessness...and the list can go on.
Ottawa invests many resources into the ByWard Market, to name just one busy area, but adding a supervised injection site will only necessitate a significant increase in public funds. Based on my experience as a police officer, I would say that a preferred investment for a government would be one in rehabilitation facilities. Sadly, in Ottawa today there are significant wait times for persons who want to turn their lives around. This wait time leaves a vulnerable person at the mercy of their addiction on the street. We all know that getting a person to a place where they know they need help is half the battle, but we don't provide sufficient beds for them.
In closing, I would ask the committee to consider the following. As a sergeant working on the Ottawa streets, I would never be able to approach this committee and speak candidly. My message would have gone through any number of official police filters. I can speak to you today, however, because I am a representative of a police association in Canada.
As president of an association of professional police, I speak on behalf of my 2,000 members. My message to you today is as candid as I can be. My message to you is not censored by budget constraints, or through the lens of political interests. My message today is grounded in many years of working on the streets in Ottawa, with dedicated and concerned police officers and civilian members.
This concludes my remarks for the committee. As always, I'm available for your questions.