{"id":3857,"date":"2019-10-02T05:04:30","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T11:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/?p=3857"},"modified":"2020-04-03T13:57:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T19:57:45","slug":"is-the-lethbridge-scs-really-straining-police-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/10\/02\/is-the-lethbridge-scs-really-straining-police-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Lethbridge SCS really straining police resources?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, the Lethbridge Police Service released data for calls to service in Lethbridge. For some reason, they organized that data in reference to the Supervised Consumption Site,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two images for reference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first image is a table of calls for service for 2017 and 2018, and the other is a map for reference. The colours of the table rows match the zone colours on the map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shared a post from Lethbridge Supports Harm Reduction<\/a> earlier that questions these stats from different perspectives, but there are a couple of points I wanted to highlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, in speaking to the media, Acting Chief Scott Woods said the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuite frankly, we\u2019re in that area more, which means that we\u2019re putting more resources into that area, which means that in other areas of the city for example, or even in that same area of the city, outside it\u2014depending on the priority of what we\u2019re dealing with, our response times will suffer. As a result, we can\u2019t get to some things as quickly as we\u2019d like to. Obviously we do things on a priority system, so some of the lower level stuff is waiting longer, which is leading to some frustrations from people in the community. . . . From the standpoint of the police service, our people are starting to get tired, because we\u2019ve been busy.\u201d<\/p>\u201cSignificant increase\u201d in calls for service at SCS and surrounding area strain LPS resources, Lethbridge News Now<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t understand this. If you look at the table, you\u2019ll see that calls for service around the SCS have increased, but calls in the city overall have gone up by only 0.15%\u2014less than 2\/10 of 1%. The city, as a whole, saw an increase of only 52 calls in the second year, compared to the first year. That\u2019s one extra call for service per week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s just me, but one extra call for service per week doesn\u2019t seem enough to strain resources. The LPS paid out over $1 million more in wages<\/a> for their 2018 budget than their 2017 budget. Did they not spend this extra million dollars on more cops? If not, why not? I mean, if they feel strained by an extra call for service per week, you\u2019d think using some of that million dollars for more cops might be something they\u2019d do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, It\u2019s misleading to say that calls for service to the SCS increased by 6000% in 2018 over 2017. The building where the SCS sits now was vacant during the last 6 months of the first reporting period, and the nightclub that occupied it during the first 6 months of that reporting period was open only twice a week. So, of course there will be only 7 calls for service during that reporting period. Plus, half of the calls to the SCS originated from SCS staff, and many of those were related to the partnership agreement between LPS and Arches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It always pays to analyze data critically, rather than using the data to justify your ideology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, the Lethbridge Police Service released data for calls to service in Lethbridge. For some reason, they organized that data in reference to the Supervised Consumption Site,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22,30,69],"tags":[77,79],"class_list":["post-3857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lethbridge","category-politics","category-scs","tag-lethbridge","tag-scs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/shutterstock_758023999.jpg?fit=1000%2C662&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4NkW7-10d","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4193,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/02\/25\/the-extensive-consultations-of-the-scs-a-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":3857,"position":0},"title":"The extensive consultations of the SCS: a history","author":"Kim Siever","date":"25 February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I don\u2019t understand how opponents of the supervised consumption site can say there wasn\u2019t enough consultation prior to the it opening.","rel":"","context":"In "SCS"","block_context":{"text":"SCS","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/scs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4250,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/03\/11\/my-response-to-the-scs-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":3857,"position":1},"title":"My response to the SCS review","author":"Kim Siever","date":"11 March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In March 2020, the Supervised Consumption Sites Review Committee released the results of their review. This is my response to that review.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/viaduct-4736476_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/viaduct-4736476_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/viaduct-4736476_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/viaduct-4736476_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/viaduct-4736476_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3680,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/08\/06\/debunked-8-myths-about-the-lethbridge-supervised-consumption-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":3857,"position":2},"title":"Debunked: 9 myths about the Lethbridge supervised consumption site","author":"Kim Siever","date":"6 August 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are the 9 myths people often use when opposing the supervised consumption site and why exactly they\u2019re just myths.","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3777,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/09\/17\/my-email-to-the-scs-review-committee\/","url_meta":{"origin":3857,"position":3},"title":"My email to the SCS Review Committee","author":"Kim Siever","date":"17 September 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Alberta government established a Supervised Consumption Services Review Committee to evaluate the social and economic impacts of current and proposed supervised consumption sites. This committee is touring the province, and receiving in-person feedback from public engagement sessions. They held two in Lethbridge, and although I attended one, I didn\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-17-at-05.12.28.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-17-at-05.12.28.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-17-at-05.12.28.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-17-at-05.12.28.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-17-at-05.12.28.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4170,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/02\/17\/mythbusting-anti-scs-roasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":3857,"position":4},"title":"Mythbusting anti-SCS roasts","author":"Kim Siever","date":"17 February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"People who oppose the Lethbridge supervised consumption site care more about ideology than they do facts.","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-1241241_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4172,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/02\/19\/my-response-numbers-show-scs-is-creating-more-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":3857,"position":5},"title":"My response: \u201cNumbers show SCS is creating more issues\u201d","author":"Kim Siever","date":"19 February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lethbridge Herald is on a roll this month with all the roasts and letters they\u2019re publishing from people opposed to the local supervised consumption site. I already addressed this week\u2019s roasts, but I thought I\u2019d take a stab at some of the letters.","rel":"","context":"In "SCS"","block_context":{"text":"SCS","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/scs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-3908153_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-3908153_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-3908153_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-3908153_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/syringe-3908153_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3857"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3864,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3857\/revisions\/3864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}