Within Abbotsford city limits — but outside of its bylaws — a number of encampments on provincially-owned land along Highway 1 have become the sites of a disproportionate amount of crime and disorder.
Officials with the city are calling on the province to do something about it, and those calls are getting louder.
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This week, one of those encampments has had to deal with a violent homicide and a major fire.
“We have some people here who are struggling, and legitimately struggling to try and make ends meet,” said Sgt. Paul Walker, media relations officer for the Abbotsford Police Department (AbbyPD).
“We have a criminal element that shows up, and sometimes lives here, takes advantage of people, and then brings that crime to these camps.”
Police executed a search warrant at the Whatcom Road Park & Ride on Thursday, as IHIT asks for witnesses to come forward in relation to Monday’s targeted shooting of 69-year-old Wayne Versfelt.
One resident of the encampment, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution, explained that the homicide started over a disagreement between neighbours about gas money for a shared generator. And they say Thursday’s fire was the result of somebody experiencing severe mental illness.
The AbbyPD says that in the past year, they’ve responded to more than 200 calls in the immediate area around the encampment. However, they say they are powerless to do anything more than simply respond, since the land is owned by the province.
“Any land owner, in this case it’s the province, but if it’s a private-property land owner, they need to provide some direction to the police if they need police assistance,” Walker said.
“That could be standing by to keep the peace while they hire crews to clean it up.”
In a statement, Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said, “The City has repeatedly raised concerns with the Ministry of Transportation and Transit about conditions at Whatcom and the need for timely, sustained action on provincially managed lands.”
Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth wasn’t available for an interview, but ministry staff say they’re actively taking down the nearby Cole Road encampment and then plan to turn their attention to Whatcom Road.
Meanwhile, residents worry that without more supports for the city’s rapidly growing homeless population, officials will always be playing Whack-a-Mole, anticipating that as one camp closes, another will spring up.
Even so, local police say it’s better than nothing.
“I know there’s a lot of moving parts and it’s not an easy fix, but if we could have some movement to have some of this maintained and have some security and law and order brought into this in the days and weeks to come, that would be ideal,” Walker said.
