UNHAPPY CAMPERS

Park Squatters Pose a Threat, Says Ranger

If you go out in the woods today, be ready to run into used syringes
and condoms.

That's thanks to a fivefold jump in the number of people camping
illegally in Edmonton's river valley since 1999, a problem directly
tied to the city's growing homeless population, says park ranger Ian
Hosler.

"What we see in the parks is really just symptomatic of a much larger
problem," he said yesterday.

"We're just trying to manage the safety and quality of experience
people have on our parkland. Just moving these folks around isn't a
long-term answer."

Public safety is an issue because many people forced to live in the
river valley suffer from mental-health issues or addictions, Hosler
said.

"With people with substance-abuse problems, we'll often see used
needles and condoms and that kind of thing. That proves to be a hazard
to our patrons.

"It used to be sort of confined to the downtown, the Louise McKinney
or Dawson parks area. And now we're seeing that extend into the
district parks in the community, wherever there's a patch of trees."

The Edmonton Police Service's river valley unit of two full-time and
two part-time officers was disbanded in early 2002.

In February, Coun. Karen Leibovici asked bureaucrats to prepare a
report on what effect the EPS pullout had on public safety in the
valley parks, and if it's feasible to give park rangers the powers of
peace officers.

That June 3 report shows park rangers documented 330 cases of camps or
shelters in river valley parks in 2002 - more than five times the
number recorded in Also up were the number of "inappropriate acts"
discovered by park rangers. Hosler said it's far from unusual to find
couples copulating in city parks.

"There's a lot of that going on in the parks, but it has nothing to do
with vagrants," he said. "Some of the shelters do not allow couples to
live together. So one of the things we see is quite often, couples
don't want to be split up."

The report recommends giving park rangers access to the EPS radio
system and looking at making rangers special constables, which Hosler
said would let them check warrants and carry protective vests and
pepper spray.

Ward 5 Coun. Bryan Anderson, who serves on the community services
committee, said he doubts the report's recommendations will fly.

The city's new parkland bylaw will give park rangers the powers they
need to keep people out of the river valley, said Anderson. When
needed, they can always call police, he said.

"You're going to find the park rangers have a presence they never had
before."