People living in tents wonder what's next as Fredericton police dismantle another site

Dawn Knowlton isn't sure what lies ahead in her four-year struggle living on the streets.

All she knew on Friday was she had to pack up her things and leave a tent camp she'd called home on Fredericton's north side since January.

A day earlier, Fredericton police officers showed up at the site and told her and the other people living there they had just hours to leave. She said police returned again four times on Friday with the same message.

"They just don't want homeless people around, but I don't know what you're going to do with us," said Knowlton, as she gathered belongings from the site and piled them into a shopping cart.

"A lot of us don't want to be this way. We're just trying to get by."

On Friday, the area where Knowlton lived was littered with discarded drink cans, clothing, bicycle parts, gas cans and furniture.

Located along the N.B. Trail near the Barkers Point Bypass, it's the fourth to be dismantled by Fredericton police officers this year, following similar action at sites in the uptown area, near Government House and in the Devon neighbourhood.

Concerns about crime

Sonya Gilks, a spokesperson for the Fredericton Police Force said in an email the encampment was dismantled following complaints from people walking the trails and, more recently, the owner of the property they were living on.

"There were three tents there at last visit, but could have been more at any given time with many people coming and going," Gilks said.

Ryan Cochrane is pleased something was done about the tent camp, which he estimates is about a kilometre away from his home in Barkers Point.

He said late Sunday night, someone stole three of his children's bikes and several hand tools from his shed.

The next morning, upon advice from a neighbour, he went looking for the tent camp and found one of his children's bikes there.

Before he could retrieve it, however, he said people approached him with knives and told him to leave.

He said he called the police and an officer was sent down, allowing him to safely get further into the area, where he found the two other bikes and some of the tools that were stolen.

"I feel like if I left it I where it was, I would just be another victim among the pile of [refuse] that's here," Cochrane said. "Dozens of bikes, tools, everything else has been stolen and … I'm just another victim at that point."

Asked whether there was any criminal activity taking place at the encampment, Gilks didn't say directly.

"We know that there have been thefts in the area, and police continue to investigate," she said, in her email.

Knowlton said people living on the streets will "do what they got to do to get by," but added that people like her and others living outside get unfairly blamed for crimes in the community.

"They're judgmental. Very judgmental," she said.

A.J. Peterson lived at the tent camp for seven months before police told him and his girlfriend they had to leave.

Like Knowlton, he said he finds the homeless are often blamed unfairly whenever there's trouble in the community.

"The homeless that I know, they work hard for their money. It's not stealing or anything else," Peterson said.

Revisiting sanctioned tent sites

Last year former police chief Roger Brown announced the force was piloting the concept of having sanctioned tent sites, where people would be allowed to set up tents in specific areas that would be monitored regularly by police.

That pilot was abandoned back in April, with Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers saying the benefits were outweighed by criminal activity and public safety risks such as physical abuse, drug use and propane fires.

Cochrane said he thinks the city should give it another try, as the alternative doesn't seem to be working.

"I would have to believe that out of the people that are living homeless, there are certainly probably the majority that are down on their luck and want to turn their life around," he said.

"Having a site that has the basic utilities that every human deserves: power, water, the ability to have a shower, basic security — I can't see anyone turning that away," he said.

Knowlton said she chooses not to go to the homeless shelters as "they're just very strict," and she would have to give up many of her personal belongings.

Instead, she's chosen to live on the streets, even if that's meant she's been forced from various locations, including the tent camp near Devon Lumber that was dismantled in January.

"I think we need a piece of land or we need somewhere where we can go because … wherever you go, you can't even stand out anywhere and have a drink of pop, or get off your bike or anything, and they're trying to put the run to you," she said.

Gilks said that instead of allowing sanctioned tent sites, police and community outreach workers now respond to individual sites as they arise.

"It is important to note that our members, along with outreach partners, always attempt to connect those living in tents with the right supports and resources, through our various community partners," Gilks said.

"Everyone's journey is different. It requires compassion and patience, however public safety issues will be addressed with the urgency they require."