Iiniikokan Recovery Center Coordinator Trevor Pelletier said the City of Calgary should be bringing addictions experts onto the LRT system to address social disorder. .“If our city comes together, instead of one dope team, why don’t they have 12 different teams going out?” said Pelletier in an interview. .Pelletier said the teams should be reaching out to drug addicts and preventing social disorder before it happens. He alleged addicts are struggling because drug dealers are not being investigated. .There was one drug addict he informed Calgary police about, and it told him it could not send officers because it did not have a warrant. While he tries to empower people, he said there are “people like that trying to depower them, not showing them who they are.” .He acknowledged many of the addicts hanging around Marlborough Station are indigenous people abusing alcohol and methamphetamine. While he lives on Siksika Nation, he grew up in that part of Calgary. .He recalled being able to leave his house at 11 p.m., go down to the skateboard park, and be fine. Now social disorder has made this part of Calgary unsafe. .The coordinator went on to say open air drug use has increased on the Calgary LRT in the last few years because no one stops addicts. He said people are afraid to reach out. .Pelletier said he supports the Alberta recovery model because it is about “meeting them where they are at as a person.” He has seen clients at the Iiniikokan Recovery Center succeed because of the Alberta model. .One example he offered was a 73-year-old man who had been through multiple treatment centres before discovering the Alberta model and using it to become sober. This man ended up telling his son, who was an ex-gangster, what he learned, leading to him cleaning up his life. .Pelletier said much of the social disorder on the Calgary LRT stems from being treated bad. He said outreach teams should be going to these people and speaking to them..The teams should be made up of four people: a security guard, an addictions counsellor, a treatment centre employee, and a coordinator. .They should be like the community safety watch group Bear Clan Patrol. He said there is too much individualism with treatment options when they should be collaborating with each other. .Pelletier concluded by saying addicts on the LRT should be addressed because that is what being a Calgarian is about. .“A Calgarian is a proud person who takes care of their neighbour, helps their senior citizens, helps their people out,” he said. .“You go on a train ride, you want to have a nice experience.” .The Alberta government said on February 14 the Alberta Sheriffs will reinforce Calgary police patrols in high-crime areas as part of an initiative created by the Calgary Public Safety and Community Response Task Force..READ MORE: Province deploys sheriffs in Calgary’s inner city.A 12-week pilot partnership between the Alberta Sheriffs and Calgary police will begin in late February to help deter and respond to crime and social disorder in the city.."This initiative increases public safety by putting more eyes and ears in neighbourhoods where they’re needed and creates a more visible officer presence that will help deter crime while connecting vulnerable Albertans to the supports they need,” said Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis.
