Though they call themselves the “Regulators,” a Penticton non-profit operator sees the group of citizens claiming to take action on drug use as an “unregulated body.”
Announcing their presence to media last week, the “Penticton Regulators” is a group calling for zero-tolerance toward drug use. When they encounter people using drugs, they ask them to leave and call police and bylaw if they don’t.
The group also dumps water over places where drug use has been seen with hopes of making it uncomfortable to sit there.
Related: Penticton Regulators mount up to clean up the streets
“This water tactic is a limp tactic in hopes to agitate or create something less comfortable,” said Matthew Baran, Ooknakane Friendship Centre executive director. “My concern is that if you’ve got somebody in that stasis and you’re constantly agitating them, you’re lighting them up and they’re going to take it up somewhere else in the community.”
Baran said he understands the frustration in the community, and there’s value in the public engaging in issues around the city. But he is “not really impressed” with Penticton Regulators.
“I see it as an unregulated body. … When you’re a group of individuals that are chest-thumping that you’re going to make change and invoke some kind of investment in redirecting, those are always short-term and those are always without direction,” he said.
“If you’re taking people out of one place, where are they going? You’re not reducing that number. You’re not redirecting that behaviour, you’re just moving it to another location. And that can be more dangerous or have more ramifications down the line than what you’re originally dealing with.
When he spoke with Peter Docherty, the apparent ring-leader of the group, Baran said he didn’t articulate any long-term plan, but appeared to act more on pomp.
He added that in his work, he needs insurance in case of any incidents, and before he can hire someone to send into the field, there’s a screening process that involves criminal record checks.
“For individuals to circumvent that process, there’s a degree of risk now that gets attached,” he said. “Maybe the organization they have is insured. … If not, they default to the owners of these establishments that they’re providing security to.”
Baran pointed to actions being taken by the church on drug use in the building’s nooks and crannies as something more positive. There, church officials are putting up “no trespassing” signs on Friday, citing safety issues, particularly with a pre-school in the church.
“Unfortunately in congregating in those stairwells the people have been using drugs and leaving behind drug paraphernalia, and we just can’t have that,” Rev. Laura Turnbull said.
She declined to comment on the Penticton Regulators, which has focused to some degree on her church of late, stating that she has never met the group.
Both city bylaw officers and the Penticton RCMP recommended the signs after taking regular calls from the church and neighbours, Turnbull said. With signs in place prohibiting trespassing, more enforcement can take place, said Patti Skinner, chair of the church council.
Skinner said the issue escalated in the last several months, adding the church has also increased lighting and put up other types of signs.
Turnbull said the church doesn’t take “no trespassing” signs lightly.
“One of the parts of a church building is the sanctuary, and a place where one can find sanctuary, so … it is in contradiction to the very essence of what a church is all about,” Turnbull said, noting the church council deliberated for “well over an hour” to find the best solution.
Turnbull wants to see more resources in town for addictions — affordable housing and a safe consumption site, in particular.
“It offered both compassion, insight and saying ‘we’re setting boundaries,’” Baran said of Turnbull’s statements.
By contrast, Baran said he felt the presence of the Penticton Regulators to be more abrasive, noting Confederate flags on Docherty’s items when he met him.
“Working for an agency that works with people of colour, those images reflect something that’s rather inappropriate in a lot of cases,” Baran said.
“Maybe his family members were involved in the (U.S.) Civil War and he wants to recognize that, but in this day and age, those are usually symbols of something less appropriate for community action. They tend to be symbols that are being used by a lot of racist groups.
“He might as well have been standing outside with khakis and a tiki torch,” he added, in an apparent reference to white nationalist protests in recent years.
Baran also disagreed with Docherty’s claims the group is only “concerned citizens” rather than vigilantes.
“Are they a self-appointed group of citizens that undertake enforcing laws because they don’t feel local law enforcement has been effective? By their own statements, I’d say yes,” Baran said. “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck.”
Baran isn’t alone in criticizing the group, either, with Penticton RCMP Supt. Ted De Jager speaking out against the group in a statement.
“At a time when we are building relationships with marginalized people in order to bring them into housing and off the streets, groups like this create animosity amongst that very population,” De Jager said.
“These tactics are ineffective in addressing the root causes of homelessness and addiction, and as such will not solve this issue.”