After an eight-year run with the Prince George RCMP, Shaun Wright has decided to retire.
Wright spent the last five years as the detachment’s Superintendent. His tenure as the city’s top cop saw its fair share of challenges ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the long-standing social issues that have plagued the city’s downtown core.
In Part 2 of his final interview with Vista Radio, Wright believes city administration put forward a good path to curb drug use and homelessness.
However, a court decision to the protect the encampment has hampered the city’s progress and has only led to more crime.
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“When the city sought an injunction from the courts and the judge essentially gave court-ordered protection to the Lower Patricia encampment that through a huge monkey wrench into the city’s ability to manage the issue. When you look at Millennium Park, that encampment has been cleared out and has not been an issue.”
“I think the current strategy does a good job of providing temporary overnight sheltering and plenty of supportive housing being available as well as daytime space available for individuals – if they can demonstrate that to the courts Lower Patricia can be closed down.”
“The issues at the Lower Patricia encampment spread out to other areas of the downtown and I think essentially being court-protected is a major issue and hasn’t allowed the city to move the residents to another location. That is problematic.” said Wright.
The sudden decampment drew the ire of BC Housing Minister Ravi Khalon as well as BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee.
The Millennium Park encampment was cleared in September of 2023. Two months later, residents of the 1st Avenue and George Street location moved into the Knights Inn.
The City entered an agreement to purchase the property for just over four million dollars. BC Housing leases the property and will pay $47,250 per month to lease 44 rooms of supportive housing for people living outside or in emergency shelters.
On the topic of supportive housing, the city has seen a recent boom in that respect with either the province, BC Housing or civic administration buying up several locations including former hotels as a prime example to get some of our most vulnerable residents off the street.
However, Wright stated with housing considered a provincial portfolio the units being built may not all go to residents living in the city.
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“Essentially, anyone who is in line for housing, wherever they are in the province from my understanding is that if they are willing to re-locate here – they would be considered for housing here. All of the housing that is built here wouldn’t necessarily be reserved for those at Lower Patricia for example.”
In some cases, certain sections of our un-housed population don’t end up staying in the buildings that are designed to assist them.
“We found that lots of them when they have been given housing, they will just return their (the encampment) and camp out for the summer and likely not return to the unit. It’s very difficult but when you are dealing with people that are suffering from opioid addictions and expecting them to make rational decisions on their well-being the outcomes usually aren’t great.”
During Wright’s early days as Superintendent, he along with the rest of his members had to navigate through the pandemic and its challenges.
He noted that while a lot of the day-to-day responsibilities didn’t really change, receiving the appropriate personal protective equipment was cumbersome to say the least.
“At the end of the day, they (officers) were pushed out into the public and had an obligation to respond to emergency situations.”
“When the vaccines started to roll out, the biggest disappointment I found was the police were not prioritized and health care workers were. Police weren’t included in that group even though we were expected to go out and deal with the public up close and personal 24/7.”
Wright’s last day as Superintendent was Thursday. Inspector Darren Rappel will act as the officer in charge until a replacement is found.
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