Residents in Prince George are voicing their frustrations with the number of apparent homeless camps in the city.
One resident tells PrinceGeorgeMatters there has been an abandoned site just off of Queensway for months, which the city is now aware of.
They say the abandoned camp had things such as drug paraphernalia, alleged stolen I.D., and stolen goods among others.
Numbers provided by the City of Prince George do show a massive spike compared to this time last year.
Manager of Bylaw Services, Fred Crittenden, says last year at this time, there were 76 files related to homeless camps.
This year, it's soared to 253.
"Whenever we have a homeless camp, we go in and make sure that the camp is taken down as quickly as possible," he says. "Depending on the location, what type of debris is there, resources are kind of marshalled up to go in and clean up whatever has to be cleaned up and put it back hopefully to the way it was."
In this particular camp, Crittenden says RCMP and bylaw services have gone into the area to see the state of the site.
He says syringes were found along with other debris; safety checks were immediately done to make sure there were no items or objects that could pose a large hazard.
Due to ownership of the land, the city bylaw workers won't be the ones cleaning the site.
"In that location, it's actually property that belongs to the ministry of transport," Crittenden says. "Our staff have been in contact with their local office and they are going to be contacting their contractor and have them get in and clean it up as soon as possible."
He adds the city only found out about this particular camp on Monday (May 20) afternoon.
"We have staff that check our hot spots regularly," he says. "This one really isn't high on our radar list."
The city currently has two full-time staff on for these particular matters and they work six days a week in the downtown area as well as part of the gateway area.
"They deal with issues specifically around homeless camps ranging from people that maybe spent the night in a vestibule in a building right up to full-blown camps with tents, heaters; you name it," Crittenden says. "Also the debris that comes along with that including drug paraphernalia."
He says dealing with homeless camps is one of the top priorities for the city, saying they try to take the camps down immediately and clean up as soon as possible.
In most cases, the camps are on private property with the owner not wanting it while there are also many in public spaces where it could become a hazard for the community.
If you do have a complaint or issue, you can contact 311 to reach the city.
The app also lets you drop a pin right where the camp is located so it's easier to find for crews.
