“How do I feel about being kicked out of here? Fuck buddy, you’re unbelievable. You’re driving me nuts already,” Barry said when he talked with LWC on Tuesday.
Barry (last name withheld), 57, was one of roughly a dozen unhoused Calgarians who were being moved from a large-scale encampment on the west side of Deerfoot Trail, just north of Glenmore Trail.
It was part of Operation Encampment, a joint effort that started this week, of the Calgary police, Calgary Bylaw, Conservation Officers, Alpha House Encampment Teams and PACT – Police and Crisis Team (with Alberta Health Services) nurses to address what they said were public safety risks along with a criminal element among residents in the location.
Acting Sgt. Rob Gray with the Calgary Police Service (CPS) said that action on this location had been in the works since April. The schedule for the dismantling of the location came together as resources fell into place, Gray said.
“We want to make sure we had all resources available, every opportunity for all of our unhoused population that we’re living in here to provide them with all the resources that they needed for this,” he told LWC.
The operation began Monday, Sgt. Gray said. Three large dumpsters of material were taken from the area on day one. Three more had already been taken out by early afternoon Tuesday.
“We haven’t even scratched the surface of everything else that’s inside,” Sgt. Gray said.
As Gray described the area, he referred to the different dwellers by first name. There was a familiarity as they’d dealt with a number of the occupants this year already and in previous situations.
They’d collected a vast mix of goods: commercial solar panels, common household items, bags of copper wire, windowpanes, clothing, books, and more.
Gray said entire wood structures had been built in the area, others were large, tented structures. They had woodstoves, bunk beds and there’s evidence of a rudimentary water or plumbing system with PVC pipe and the nearby Bow River.
Motivation for the dismantling of the encampment
Gray said the encampment could take up to two weeks to remove, weather-dependent.
Back in April, Gray said stolen property was found when they’d responded to the area on a different matter. When they showed up at the site, he described it as a “huge village.”
They found a 30-foot trailer, stolen bikes, Gator-type vehicles, golf carts, a snowblower and more. Further, they’d found a host of combustibles including full gas cans and propane tanks.
“We’ve gotten complaints from the neighbouring businesses, people from the community,” Sgt. Gray said.
“We’ve had fires that have happened here, (they) literally shut down Deerfoot here, with all the smoke that’s gone through. We’ve got the safety aspect for pedestrians, people traveling so it became a huge risk.”
According to Calgary 311 data, this year there have been 25 encampment-specific calls in that area. In nearby Highfield, total 311 calls to date are 487 in 2023. Total encampment-related calls thus far in 2023 are 4,193, the city said.
