Open drug use in the downtown core remains a key enforcement target for Windsor police.
The police service says it has responded more than 1,200 calls involving open drug use so far this year.
Police say they made 33 arrests related to public drug use under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act.
Officers also seized illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine, along with drug paraphernalia, including pipes and needles.
Police say 560 referrals were made to health, housing, and other community supports, recognizing that many people encountered through this work are vulnerable and may require compassionate, ongoing support beyond an immediate police response.
Ward 3 city councillor Renaldo Agostino represents the downtown core.
He says he and city council have been advocating for quite some time about the police initiative.
“We want to go at this with a level of compassion, but at the same time, enough is enough, and open drug use is something that just can’t be tolerated in our downtown and in our community,” he says.
Agostino says he was not caught off guard with the the stats released by Windsor police.
“I work very closely with our police force and our police nurse team, and they’re doing a great job out there, and this is just something that needed to be done, and I give the chief and his team full credit for doing it,” says Agostino.
He says the initiative is not just about downtown streets being safe; it’s about getting people that are suffering from a disease, the help they need.
“That’s the big thing here: people have to understand you need to get these people to help, and sometimes you have to go to the extreme measure of arresting someone to get them to the help they need because they’re not doing themselves and favour by getting high on the street corners in our city,” says Agostino. “That’s not the way anyone needs to live, so sometimes you got to do things to get people to the help they need, and that’s what this is all about.”
The target is focused on efforts that combine proactive enforcement with connections to health, housing, and social supports.
Windsor police say the enforcement is supporting the city’s Strengthen the Core initiative and is a response to growing concerns raised by residents, business owners, and visitors about open drug use, public disorder, and other safety issues in the downtown core.
Police in Windsor are also working with other police services, including London police to strengthen responses to complex social challenges.