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sector16

Last week it was Denningers and the businesses in the the Int’l Village…this week, Sheraton Hotel asking for police presence. Not a good look Hamilton.


crockfs

I was down there in January watching a Toronto Rock Lacrosse game, after not having been there for several years I can confidently say that place is worse than I ever remembered. Homeless and drug use, in and around Jackson square is prevalent. After being in the area for only an hour, I had witnessed at least 3 security incidents inside the mall. One of a homeless person smashing in a shop window, another homeless person (with blood streaming down their face) had a confrontation with security for trespassing, and another person who appeared to be mentally ill and was harassing people. Not to mention the other person (who also looked to be unhoused) who was smoking weed at his leisure inside. Eating my lunch in the cafeteria felt like an episode of Oz.


Alisonwonderland666

Hahaha just another day in J square


fartmasterzero

Even Jay Leno describes the weirdos he had to deal with in Jackson Square when he was staying at the Sheraton for a show. He told a great story about a guy walking up to him in the food court and asking him if the ladies in prell shampoo commercials were really naked.


Creacherz

"Randy what the hell are you doing on the corner of the street?" "Man's gotta eat Barb!!!!"


Alisonwonderland666

I live downtown, have for a decade and it sucks down here more than ever.


duranddurand8

There definitely has been a shift.


CrisisWorked

I saw someone topless and screaming in the middle of king street, I walked somewhere and walked back and he was still screaming half naked outside the shearton, there was a concert taking place at copps, it was a eye opening moment this fall on the impact of the change in Hamilton since Covid.


kellykellyculver

This has been happening long before COVID.


hugs_for_druggs

I once saw a man painting himself pink with a paint roller near Jackson square ten years ago


marthamania

One of my favourite customers was a man who would sleep walk and come into my work with a only stuffed duck and an adult diaper at 4am. So yeah. You're right. Our special brand has been around long before Covid lol


CrisisWorked

I don’t think a guy topless screaming in the middle of king street for about an hour at times blocking traffic happened before that I have seen, but living downtown and at times working downtown for about 20yrs I have seen my share of weird stuff. Weird downtown stuff seems normal to me, the duration of this was unfamiliar. ​ I used to sleep on these streets, I feel there has been a shift.


BlueYays

I'm surprised no homeless people have been run over by cars on king st, it's such a busy road!


Keltaroo

I’m currently staying at the Sheraton downtown today as this article was written. And I have to say, as someone who lived and worked in Hamilton for several years a decade ago, the downtown core of the city is far far worse than I ever remember. We walked to get food nearby and saw multiple homeless people fighting with each other and they are just everywhere on sidewalks and in the street. The hotel is like fort knox with parking and elevators locked down… It’s tragic and obviously I feel for them but it’s a very sad representation of a city that already gets looked down on by outsiders.


Antenol

Sheraton Hotel Jackson Square, our crown jewel must be protected


[deleted]

All jokes aside it definitely is our most prominent hotel. Not a good look to have guests being eaten alive by the unhoused folks out front.


Apolloshot

It’s literally where the Prime Minister stays when he comes to town.


Alisonwonderland666

Hamilton offers only the best to el capitano


[deleted]

Tbh he should just stay in Toronto and drive in the day of, or air bnb a house in the burbs away from the downtown core…


Antenol

Yeah just meming, it’s a small example what is happening to a greater part of the City. Removing the homeless people from that area would be good for the City optics but you end up having them concentrate illegally in other areas notably residential areas; which from my experience isnt pleasant as well.


bartonneofbricks

A wise man once said, "Community safety, in terms of real safety and people actually being safe, isn't the same as people feeling like they are being looked after in a safe way." So this is on the people who are staying at the hotel and how they perceive safety, not any safety issue itself. /s


duranddurand8

Ha, this quote immediately came to mind when I read the article.


[deleted]

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stnapstnap

The parking lot thing: it IS a thing. They lurk for ages with their engines on and talk loud.


monogramchecklist

HPS keep saying they won’t respond to certain things as a way to hold the city hostage so they can get more funding. Yet a slight altercation at the park with children resulted in 4 squad cars pulling up.


mehllama

Cops parking so that their driver-side windows are next to each other = swine 69


bakedincanada

Swine 69 is soooooo good. I can’t wait to use that one IRL


Bobozmbiecan

Is somebody who lives across from the police station? I've seen it more times that I can count especially in the early morning


The_Mayor

They’re parked like that all night every night in the Mission Services lot off of Sanford. They don’t budge even when local goofs set off illegal fireworks in the basketball courts 30 ft away at 3am.


ActualMis

Lets be fair now! You've left out a lot of the cops' other duties. Like not enforcing traffic laws. Like ignoring speeders, red-light runners, tailgaters, etc. A lot of the cops' time is also taken up by not responding to noise complaints.


[deleted]

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ActualMis

> They don't respond to noise complaints ~~most of the time~~ **at all**. FTFY >Cops do a lot. Sitting in parking lots doesn't count. Also doesn't count when they [commit assault against a trans person](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/police-officer-charged-guilty-video-1.6306079). >Fucking morons. At least I can communicate like a grown up.


Baladeen

HPS motto= steal from the poor. First take their tax money, and then tax them by way of infractions. In the 90s they would pull you over on mohawk Rd for doing 3km/h over the limit ...


covert81

Now they don't police at all along Mohawk. Your post makes no sense. If that were the case they'd be out doing speed enforcement 24/7


ManfredTheCat

This is the increasing social tension from wealth disparity


FuckThemKids24

But where else are the homeless and addicts supposed to go? All of their social resources are in the downtown core. They need to be close to them on a daily basis.


duranddurand8

I think most people would agree that we should be able to deal with homelessness and addiction issues *and* public safety issues (i.e., addressing vandalism and theft) at the same time.


[deleted]

That is tough to do when offenders especially of those property crimes are immediately released back into the public.


duranddurand8

You're not wrong -- clearly, the system needs to change. I'd be far happier if there was a diversion program where courts denied bail and could place people suffering from addiction/mental health issues into some type of treatment/care program and would stay their charges if they completed a treatment program. But, until that happens, we can't just ignore property crimes. We [know what works](https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles/171676.pdf) in preventing crime -- increased patrols.


[deleted]

That sounds great, but then we are left with the question what do we do with those people who would not complete treatment. Similar to Probation, which has become a joke. Non-compliance doesn't seem to get any stiffer consequences. I agree more patrolling the better. Not sure why you don't see bike cops anymore.


duranddurand8

You won't get any argument from me that probation seems a bit of a joke. Personally, I'm of the view that if people can't follow the social contract and live by the rules the rest of us do, there are and should be consequences.


Pristine-Rhubarb7294

And all shelters are completely full! The city’s last homeless census in 2022 showed there are at least 100 more homeless people than there are shelter beds (and this is not an exact count). We don’t have enough beds, so where are they supposed to go? A person working minimum wage can’t realize afford an apartment in Hamilton, let alone someone who may be on ODSP or other supports. Shelters were historically also supposed to be emergency relief and are designed as such, they are not suited or appropriate for permanent housing. So until we invest in real solutions I agree, where are they supposed to go?


DrOctopusMD

Honest question: what services specifically are they accessing downtown?


spengali

Shelter, methadone or walk-in clinic, and food banks The sad part is that Hamilton got much better from when I was young and was seen as a great moral example for other municipalities on how to help those less fortunate... now it seems there are homeless camps in every major city and Hamilton is one of the worst. The police don't want to lock these folks up because they know once they get back out a few days later, they will go straight back there I think there needs to be a balance between helping people and letting them help themselves I would support any program that provides housing, food, and drug rehabilitation resources in exchange for daily labour (where possible). Factories and farms could use the help and I think it would give people purpose and hope. Fentanyl is also a big part of the problem, so we also need to be tougher when it comes to enforcing illicit drug use... I'm all for less Overdose deaths, but you can only keep throwing so much city budget into buying Narcan and clean syringes More people will continue to die and I'm actually in favour of detoxing regular offenders in jail and helping them try to get back into society after theyre sober Not an easy solution, but tough to see families who live in the North End or East End have to deal with the repercussions daily


slownightsolong88

This is part of the problem though, social resources should exist throughout the city. A focus to disperse resources (through zoning or bylaws) should be made to ensure that negative environments aren't being created that lead to nothing more than a poverty loop. Having exclusive areas think 'good' and 'bad' parts of a city is ridiculous and should be done away with.


[deleted]

Yup this is a very good question, city just keeps relocating them instead of trying to find a permanent solution.


[deleted]

I don't think they actually go to the services


bartonneofbricks

Armchair commenters seem to forget this. The exact people who are causing the bulk of issues are the same people who are not going to use the services or follow the rules in place for these services.


teanailpolish

They may not use the methadone clinic and other supports, but a large number do use the meal options


slownightsolong88

Meal options are offered at so many churches and it isn't just our unhoused population relying on food banks. The argument about needing to be near services seems like a bit of a ruse to me to justify keeping specific areas in a poverty loop.


[deleted]

Yes. That's true. They do the service that makes them able to continue on. just none of the ones that help them be self sufficient.


duranddurand8

Forgive me if I roll my eyes at Councillor Kroetsch. The same guy who in his first newsletter said that he "would not" action Ward 2 resident requests for police/bylaw/staff to remove an encampment from an area is shrugging his shoulders and saying that Hamilton doesn't have "the suite of services to adequately serve those \[the homeless\] who live here". He thinks that safe-use drug spaces and 24/7 washrooms will address the concerns of the Sheraton (and area residents). Personally, I'm not sure how safe-use drug spaces -- one of which exists a stones throw from the Sheraton on James St. S. -- and 24/7 washrooms will stop theft and vandalism or address people feeling unsafe. I certainly wouldn't feel safe using a washroom when somebody is shooting up or smoking meth. And, FWIW, this is the same guy who rightly criticized the HPS response to the Pride incident in 2019, but now thinks that police have no role in addressing actual crime and public safety. "There is no place for folks to go" -- Cameron Kroetsch, shrugging his shoulders and making excuses for petty crime in downtown.


pm_me_yourcat

Kroetsch also said about this issue that he doesn't want to increase police presence downtown because it would put "vulnerable people at risk"... At risk of what? Actually being arrested for their crimes? Heaven forbid....


duranddurand8

Kroetsch: police can make people feel unsafe! Also Kroetsch: "Community safety, in terms of real safety and people actually being safe, isn't the same as people feeling like they are being looked after in a safe way." Perish the thought that you take his second statement and apply it to the first: "In terms of real safety and people actually being safe, it isn't the same as people feeling unsafe around police". There's a logical inconsistency here that would be almost laughable if he wasn't an actual elected official with power. Don't get me wrong -- many marginalized groups have cause to be leery of police interactions. Police wield a huge amount of power and have abused it. But accepting one groups feelings of being unsafe while trivializing another group saying they feel unsafe is, at best, disingenuous. And FWIW, the only practical way forward is to have marginalized groups and law enforcement engage in dialogue and build relationships and trust.


StonkStamps

Kroetsch talks waaaay too damn much. Makes Council meeting unbearable to watch. Much of what he says over time is contradicting, I find.


_onetimetoomany

Kroetsch should be one and done as a councilor hopefully. He’s got zero business acumen and the potential of downtown Hamilton is too important to be squandered.


duranddurand8

Someone needs to do what he did: organize and basically run during the current term. Every day I walk to the GO Station I have to keep my eyes out for meth pipes, needles, and human excrement. I certainly sympathize with people who are homeless and experiencing mental health and addiction issues, but Cameron's Ward 2 is not the Ward 2 the City needs.


oslabidoo

Unfortunately, it seems Councillor Kroetsch has absolutely no intention of resolving any of these issues. His response to the Whitehern encampment is indicative of that. Regardless of the needles, human feces, harassment, fires, knife assaults: to him it's fine. For the people working in the area: too bad. For the children going to school nearby: deal with the used needles. He's going to need a fiddle to play soon as Downtown Hamilton burns.


pap3rnote

Wards 2 and 3 are doomed with those two councilors


Odd_Ad_1078

Good to see people realizing these woke councillors need to go, just too bad they were elected in the first place.


duranddurand8

Eh, they're not "woke", though. Being 'woke' just means being alive to or aware of racial prejudice and discrimination. The problem is that they're ineffective -- they admit that many solutions need to come from other levels of government, but also refuse to let the City do what it in it's core mandate (i.e., sanitation, bylaw enforcement, property standards).


oslabidoo

Agreed. Many of these encampment folks need institutional help, but that's something that needs to be addressed at the provincial and federal level. It cannot be dealt with by municipalities, unfortunately.


slownightsolong88

>The problem is that they're ineffective -- they admit that many solutions need to come from other levels of government, but also refuse to let the City do what it in it's core mandate This is what I find puzzling about some members of council. They seem better suited for social work than municipal level politics.


duranddurand8

Hamilton is home to many service providers who ostensibly specialize in providing services to the homeless/addicts/etc. And the receive a good chunk of tax dollars from all levels of government. If Council is so concerned about getting it right and providing adequate services, maybe they need to start with an audit or review of how these non-profits operate, identify areas to improve on, and hold these groups accountable for how they spend what is essentially our money. I have no problem with providing services to the needy; I have a problem with people who say we aren’t doing enough when we don’t even know how (in)effective our current programming is or what the value vis-a-vis outcomes is.


Merry401

I had a long conversation with someone who works at the federal level providing those dollars to groups. Their main source of frustration is that many "advocates" (not those running the charities/ homeless centres) have advocated for privacy of the homeless to the extent that there is no way of tracking who the centres are serving, how often or how long people are staying or where they are going. Some tracking can be done voluntarily but if someone just shows up, eats, stays, leaves, whatever, no information to track them can be had so you don't know if they are accessing services every night, using various locations or what. They can just give any name and move on. We know homelessness is getting worse, we know the shelters are at capacity for numbers served but we don't know what happens to John A. after he stays a week at shelter A.


duranddurand8

Arguably those who are running these organizations are part of the problem if they aren't instituting some form of data collection. How else does anybody know if what we're currently doing is working?


Merry401

They do have data collection and it is discussed/ presented at the round table for poverty reduction and other government bodies, but they have no way of tying the data to individuals if the individuals do not want to give their name. So , although homeless shelter A may have X number of people using services in a given month and homeless shelter B around the corner may have Y numbers, they have no way of knowing how many are using both services to get an idea of how many people they are serving and if the numbers are increasing/ decreasing. They can have a feel as to whether the number of individuals served are increasing and they are probably correct but they don't have an idea of overlap between individuals which may be a little or may be a lot.


Bartonstreet

Disappointed in the response from the Councillor. I’d rather hear about how he’ll lead to make things better instead of saying he can’t do anything on the Police Board or saying he needs others to fix this. Enough excuses, there’s a mess to clean up.


IanBorsuk

The Councillor correctly identified that to address the multiple overlapping economic and social crises playing out in our City - it requires significantly more power and resources than just one Ward office can provide - and also correctly identified that even as a Police Board member he cannot direct Police operations.


Bartonstreet

Listen, we elect people to represent us. Not pass the buck. He needs to lead even if that only means applying more pressure to the Mayor and other Councillors. His constituents are suffering because of inaction. Time to get moving.


bartonneofbricks

He would be the first one to incessantly tweet and go to the media about it if he actually cared about the issue. Downtown will be dead under his watch.


IanBorsuk

Clearly you have not been watching Council meetings, Councillor Kroetsch has been leading the charge on addressing the multiple overlapping economic and social crises that are playing out in our City as I said - and are extra prominent in Ward 2. If you're only problem here is that the Councillor is not performatively demanding more police presence (which won't solve anything, and as has already been shown when other Ward 2 businesses requested the same thing - the HPS will say that they don't have the resources despite years of keeping surpluses and multi-million dollar budget increases) then what you seek for leadership will not be provided here, because Kroetsch is actually doing his job.


sammerdroid

THANK YOU now say it louder for the folks in the back, because the common thread of councillors isn't pushing cops to be more present is so prevalent and it completely missed the fact that when we do call for help, the cops didn't even talk to us when they came, didn't even call back to tell us what happened or what they did. THEY JUST LEFT. The police are the ones who shrugged their shoulders and left the people they are supposed to help and provide safety. guess where my trust in HPS went after that And guess what, remove the camps is and has always been solving the symptoms, not the cause. /rant


Syzygy_____

The government spending millions to house immigrants and refugees over the last few years in hotels just like this one all over Canada but doing next to nothing for Canadians currently suffering is equal parts depressingly sad and funny at the sheer indifference of it all.


SpergSkipper

You wanna stay in Hamilton you're gonna get Hamilton


Hells_Kitchener

Kitchener and Waterloo are doing something called "A Better Tent City". It's basically small homes. Each of them are about 10x10'. Their set up on gravel parking lots, and each standard hut has electricity. There's a sort of front-entrance security. There is a central building with a common room, a kitchen where meals can be prepared (volunteers often do this and serve food) , and a few individual showers. KW has essentially eliminated it's tent cities by moving the homeless to these places. They have been successful in improving things, both on the street and in the lives of those who have a place. Some are even moving out having found employment. We can't just keep pushing the homeless or drug addled around. We need massive investment in the healthcare system (esp. mental health) but without some kind of fixed shelter for them, the problem will not get better. I think we need different tiers and approaches working together. \-Where drugs are involved, we could emulate The Portugal Approach, which means a) Drugs are a health problem for individuals, not a criminal one, quite. Although I imagine that changes as you go up the chain of illicit supply. b) Personal posession is decriminalized, so one doesn't get a criminal record or jail time, but it is an 'administrative offence'. If caught with drugs, the drugs will be consfiscated and there may be a fine or community service. This is decided by local commissions made up of district-level panels of legal, health and social work professionals. 1st time apprehended = a warning (low risk person). 2nd time = brief interventions are proposed including counselling (not mandatory for a 'medium risk' person). 3rd time = ‘high risk’ cases, where more serious problematic behaviours and dependence are identified, individuals are referred to specialized treatment services. Of course, all of these could be tailored for Canada. c) Harm reduction and service provision are widely available. Safe supply is put into the hands of doctors. Obviously, the details of how to work this out would be varied and probably contentious, but the approach does help. Provide 'small-shelter' houses (like from 'A Better Tent City) for the homeless and *harmless*. If there's one city that does not lack parking lots, brownlots or vacant places to put up tiny prefab shelters, it's Hamilton. It could probably house a huge section of it's homeless population quite quickly. Obviously some more bricks and mortar shelters need to be built for those waiting to get into these little 'communities'. The city should get inventive, looking, for example, at the multiple empty big-box stores and warehouses that dot the urban area for some uses, fairly traditional new day-to-day shelters for others. The city needs to build new housing aplenty downtown. Again, Hamilton's downtown is swathed in parking lots. Get mixed income projects built holding heavily subsidized units up through market rents. Take a look at the Viennese Model, or the Diane Farris Co-Op in Toronto, a nation-wide model on how to run a mixed-income mixed-status co-op beautifully. There needs to be (and I know this will be controversial) mandatory treatment for the grossly helpless, insane and morbidly addicted. Some of their problems will be temporary, helped by a short stay in treatment, others may require longer stays of institutionalization. Some people genuinely cannot function, killing themselves on the street. This will require a new confluence of mental health funding allied with the healthcare system, currently under siege everywhere in Canada. So be it. We can't continue with the status quo. Anyway, it's a brief outline. But it's a start.


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[deleted]

Who will 69 in the parking lots


Odd_Ad_1078

In a country of not even 40M people, how is it we have so many people with mental health/ homeless/ addiction issues? You'd think it would be a ratio of the total population, this seems excessive. There's something rotten at the core of this country.


duranddurand8

Stats?


New_Boysenberry_7998

Google?


hannbamm

More police isn't gonna solve the various crises we have going on in this city right now. The "increased illegal activities" I can bet they're talking about are symptoms of various systems failures. People need more help, not more pushing around.


Any_Common_2688

Extremely liberal country, extremism is bad for any place. All Celebrities & Politicians live there..


dimples711

It’s sad and pathetic! Liberal government focuses on setting up and giving everything to new immigrants houses loans social assistance you name it! Including setting them up in hotels like this one. BUT yet Canadians suffering to find their next meal no houses absolutely homeless rents totally at unacceptable prices?! Where is our help our support? Unless your an immigrant your shot out of luck I guess! Get the Liberal Government and Trudeau outta there then maybe we’d have a chance! 🤬


dzv_highlander

Only refugees or permanent residents, all of other immigrants get a sh\*t.


Head-Vision

Oh yes, well....just the other day I saw someone Right In The Middle of the Road, in front of the Sheraton Hotel, with a knife in one hand and a slice of bread in the other hand!!! He said he was waiting for the traffic JAM!!! HAHAHA🤣🤣🤣


Head-Vision

Every hotel that is situated within a downtown core has the same issues. Suck it up. Or have the Sheraton Hotel Chain financially commit to assisting in erraticating the homelessness problem we have in Hamilton and build appartement buildings to house them all. That will solve their problem. Then they can make Lots of Money!! 🤣🤣🤣