Lac La Biche County’s peace officers are using a drone patrol to seek out homeless camps in the community.
Recently, Lac La Biche County Enforcement Services launched an initiative to locate homeless encampments in the municipality that are not permitted on public lands. According to information released by the County on Thursday, Oct. 3, staff will be flying a drone over Alexander Hamilton Park and other County-owned properties in a bid to find these makeshift campsites.
Sixty camps found
John Kokotilo, Lac La Biche County’s general manager of Protective stated that since Jan. 1 of this year, Enforcement Services personnel have verified and dealt with over 60 encampments in the Lac La Biche area.
The campsites, he explained, present a significant risk not only to people living in them, but other community members and first responders as well.
“These shelters provide inadequate warmth and shelter from the elements during the winter months, and present a hazard due to the open fires,” Kokotilo told Lakeland This Week. “Our Fire Services department has received several calls over the last few months of these temporary shelter structures catching on fire and spreading.”
Kokotilo stated that nine County staff who are certified as advanced drone pilots will be conducting the searches with four drones.
A better place to go
Once the camps are identified, officers move in on foot patrols to advise the people in the camps that they can not stay there. The camp occupants are offered alternative accommodations and resource assistance before the camps are cleared and dismantled.
“Encampment residents are always presented with viable options and alternatives, including accessing the Out of the Elements Shelter, assistance in contacting family or friends who may take them in, and connecting them with social services that may assist,” he explained.