Victoria police are getting tough on tent city.
City council voted unanimously Friday to give the force $113,000 to keep the camp and the people nearby safe amid increasing reports of violence.
The special council meeting was held because police say their resources have been stretched thin with calls for service in the area jumping up 46 per cent.
Acting Chief Del Manak said in his pitch to council that police want to give the community an added level of safety and security.
“What we need to do is we need to come out with an enhanced plan, so what that’s going to look like is it’s going to have two officers who are specifically assigned to that immediate neighbourhood,” Manak said.
“Three to four blocks around tent city, we’re going to have officers deployed strategically who are there to make sure that they’re dealing with any social disorder, engaging with residents, and making sure that they’re enhancing the current service that we’re already providing.”
Police will begin rolling out the enhanced public safety plan on Saturday, Manak said.
The plan is flexible and could see officers added or moved from the encampment depending on need.
The money will come from the city’s contingency fund, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps confirmed.
“There’s no budget increase for this year, there’s no tax increase,” said Helps. “We have a contingency fund for incidents such as these. It’s very unusual to take money out of the contingency for policing, but it’s what the residents want and deserve, I think, so we’re responding.”
Residents pushing back against tent city were happy with the increased funding, saying it was about time.
“We’re very happy with it and we believe that every penny should be passed on to the province because they’re the ones who caused the problem in the first place,” said Stephen Hammond, spokesman of the Mad As Hell group.
If the camp isn’t dismantled sooner, the funding is expected to bolster police support until September.
That’s when the B.C. government will take the matter to a hearing seeking a permanent injunction to oust campers.
But this week, B.C. housing minister Rich Coleman wasn’t ruling out trying to force campers to move on before its decided in court.
Coleman said if a recently issued health and safety order isn’t being followed by campers by next Wednesday, “We need to go to the courts.”
The announcement of increased funding came just hours after police were called to the encampment for reports of an assault.
Manak said the victim did not have serious injuries but he was uncooperative with police, likely because he feels intimidated.
