Lessons from Peterborough, where cops started cracking down on open drug use in 2023

When London, Ont., police unveiled their new approach to open drug use on Tuesday, they cited Peterborough as a model for the policy.

The underlying police technique is simple: Instead of walking by someone who is smoking or injecting drugs on a sidewalk or in a doorway, stop and tell them they can't consume illegal drugs out in the open, but they can get help. 

Mental health and addiction workers will work alongside foot patrol officers in London who patrol downtown, midtown and Old East Village. Police say they hope the public will feel safer and the city will look cleaner. 

CBC News spoke to Peterborough police Chief Stuart Betts, a former deputy chief in London. He was the first in the province to actively take steps to end open drug use, an initiative that started in October 2023. There, mental health workers aren't involved but officers can help people connect with resources in the community. 

Why did Peterborough roll out an open drug use policy? 

The zero-tolerance approach was a response to calls from the community, especially in Peterborough's downtown.

"People were complaining that they didn't feel safe and open-air drug use was happening with a great deal of frequency in our parks, playgrounds, bus stops, bus shelters, and business storefronts, not unlike what you're seeing in London," Betts said. 

A similar policy started in Edmonton in September 2023, and the police chiefs of the two communities spoke to determine what was and wasn't working. 

What was the approach? 

Similar to London, the program is rooted in a compassionate approach to people who use drugs. Open drug use was tolerated for too long, Betts said.

"We have a consumption and treatment site here in the city," Betts said. "It's the identified location where people can use this. It's also in our downtown core. So the approach is, open-air drug use isn't going to be tolerated in public spaces other than the consumption and treatment site." 

London's police chief did not specify whether officers here would direct people to this city's supervised consumption site.

In Peterborough, officers are told to not only respond to complaints about people using drugs out in the open, but to seek those people out.

"We simply approach people and say, 'Listen, there's a controlled drug consumption site. You will go there to use your drugs. Failure to comply, to stop doing what they're doing, would result in an arrest," Betts said. 

Once someone is arrested, their drugs can be confiscated.

"They would then be released unconditionally and sent on their way. But they're now on their way without the drugs," Betts said. 

When you allow a certain behaviour, that behaviour is going to continue. Once they know it's not allowed, they will move on.- Peterborough police Chief Stu Betts

Charging people would be an absolute last resort because Betts didn't want to criminalize someone who was already dealing with an addiction and other issues. 

"My approach was take your drugs, go where you're allowed to use them. If you don't, you're not going to have drugs when you leave this interaction, but we're not going to criminalize you further." 

Is it working in Peterborough? 

Betts tracks everything — the number of people arrested, why they've been arrested, who they've engaged with, the times of the day and days of the week, so officers can be proactive in their approach. They also track overdoses and how many times officers or other emergency services use Narcan, which temporarily reverses an opioid overdose. 

"I wanted to know if we have created a bigger problem than we're trying to solve in terms of health," Betts said, by pushing people to use alone and hidden, where they can't get help if they overdose.

"The concern was, you're going to end up killing people because they're going to go into dark alleys and nobody's going to be there to save them. That hasn't proven to be the case." 

The number of drug overdoses and fatal drug overdoses has dropped in Peterborough in general, and the vast majority of people comply with officers' requests to take the drug use elsewhere.

"Fewer than one per cent of people are non-compliant," Betts said. Since October 2023, only 33 people have been arrested after hundreds of police interactions, he added.  

"When you allow a certain behaviour, that behaviour is going to continue. Once they know it's not allowed, they will move on. I believe people want to follow the rules." 

Does downtown Peterborough look, feel safer now? 

"I'm not going to tell you it's perfect, but I can tell you that this has made a difference. People have said, 'Don't stop doing what you're doing,'" Betts said. 

If someone calls to report a person using drugs, an officer will respond within an hour. If that's not possible, the caller gets a call back and an apology.

"If you've taken the time to call us, we can take the time to reach back out to you," Betts said. "Eighty-nine per cent of the calls we've responded to have been a direct result of the community calling us." 

What challenges have there been? 

Officers had to pivot to a more arrest-focused approach in one part of downtown, close to a low-barrier shelter where people congregated and where calls to police went from 244 to 789 per year.

"I approached the director of that shelter and they said there's nothing they can do once people leave the property, so I directed my officers to arrest anyone that leaves the property that is committing an offence that is arrestable. You can release them unconditionally once you've seized whatever it is that they're doing." 

That area has now seen an improvement, Betts said. 

Another issue is that people are not allowed to smoke drugs inside a supervised consumption site, just inject them, Betts said. Also, prosecutors balked at the idea that officers might let people take off with their illegal drugs if they're not arrested.

"They're not prosecuting low-level possession and I have no interest in criminalizing people who are already facing some big challenges. I'm going to direct them to other locations."