Saskatoon sees increase of those sleeping outside

There has been an increase in the number of people sleeping on public sidewalks, benches, parks and other places, according to a new report.

In 2022 CSP officers responded to 2,630 calls involving 3,105 people, according to a report set to go before the city’s street activity subcommittee Wednesday.

The report also noted that over the past two years “CSP has observed and reported a significant increase in the number of people sleeping in building vestibules, encampments, public sidewalks, benches and parks.”

Most of the calls were for outreach (1003). These are calls involving housing issues, well-being checks, counselling, public safety, mental health or medical assistance, the report said.

Suspicious person calls were the second largest category (542) with 483 calls about a disturbance, and 419 calls about addictions, according to CSP statistics.

Businesses and members of the public made the majority of complaints, at 74 per cent, with patrol making 17 per cent of calls. Four per cent of calls were self-initiated and four were by police, the report said.

Eighty-six per cent of calls were handled by CSP officers without the need for police assistance, according to the report.

CSP officers’ average response time was 7.8 minutes, the report said.

• Get the CTV News app for Saskatoon area breaking news alerts and top stories 

According to the report, 70 per cent of the calls were handled successfully. This means the situation was resolved without the need for emergency services.

“The CSP provides a crisis diversion response to people who are in distress and vulnerable on the streets of Saskatoon,” the report said.

CSP officers were unable to resolve the situation 12 per cent of the time, the report said, while 18 per cent of the time they were not able to find the person.

The number of calls has been increasing in 2023, according to CSP statistics.

In January of this year there were 271 calls for service, helping 307 people, CSP reported. That number rose to 287 calls in February with 316 people helped.

One of the biggest challenges, according to the report, is homelessness.

“There is a shortage of shelter beds in the city and CSP continues to work with all other agencies to deal with this situation on a daily basis,” the report said.

CSP has five officers and one supervisor.

Officers patrol parts of the city on foot or by bicycle, including downtown, Riversdale, and Broadway.