{"id":22734,"date":"2026-04-28T09:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/22734\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T09:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:01:08","slug":"can-policing-be-the-solution-to-increased-open-drug-use-in-ottawas-chinatown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/22734\/","title":{"rendered":"Can policing be the solution to increased open drug use in Ottawa’s Chinatown?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As residents and local businesses push for a stronger police presence in downtown neighbourhoods like Ottawa\u2019s Chinatown<\/a> over increased safety concerns and open drug use<\/a>, some legal experts say policing isn\u2019t the solution.<\/p>\n

For many, safety concerns have intensified over the last year following the closure of the supervised consumption site at Somerset West Community Health Centre<\/a>, which has forced drug use out of the facility and into the open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Around the same time as the closure of the supervised consumption site, safe supply clinic New Dawn Medical<\/a> moved into the area and has been facing months of backlash over a sustained increase in crime and safety concerns.<\/p>\n

Police databases show an increase in crime in the neighbourhood year-over-year with 6,164 dispatched calls for service in Centretown West in 2025, representing the highest yearly total within the last five years.<\/p>\n

So far in 2026, police have reported 37 assaults, one criminal harassment, two robberies, 15 break-and-enters, three car thefts, 84 thefts of $5,000 and under, and 36 reports of mischief in Centretown West as of April 21.<\/p>\n

Chinatown isn\u2019t isolated as a neighbourhood in Ottawa police databases, but Centretown West encompasses the area including Chinatown and Little Italy.<\/p>\n

Crime, drug use may be bad for business<\/p>\n

For Chinatown stores and restaurants, increased crime and drug activity isn\u2019t exactly encouraging businesses to stay in the area. Some shop fronts on Somerset Street West have even put up fences within the last year to protect themselves from theft.<\/p>\n

For Yukang Li<\/a>, executive director of the Somerset Street Chinatown Business Improvement Area, an increased police patrol and more visible law enforcement \u201care both necessary and justified\u201d from a business perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to see frequent incidents in Chinatown, including theft, open drug use, drug trafficking and at times violent crime,\u201d Li said in an email to the Ottawa Citizen. \u201cA stronger and more consistent police presence plays an important role in improving public safety and restoring confidence among residents, businesses and visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Yukang Li, executive director of Ottawa\u2019s Chinatown BIA, was part of the first group of advocates who played a role in the closure of the Northwood Recovery clinic in June 2025.<\/p>\n

Amid ongoing safety concerns in Ottawa\u2019s Chinatown neighbourhood, Ottawa police say it is maintaining a \u201cco-ordinated approach\u201d to respond to calls in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cOPS is aware of community concerns related to drug activity in the Somerset Street West area,\u201d a police spokesperson said. \u201cAs with all locations, information received from residents and partners is assessed and addressed through appropriate enforcement, investigative, and harm\u2011reduction\u2011focused responses, often in collaboration with City and health partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police say a number of approaches are in effect in and around Chinatown and the broader downtown core, including neighbourhood resource teams, mobile crisis teams and community police officers.<\/p>\n

Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) is also available in the Somerset and Kitchissippi wards as an alternative to dispatching police to mental health and substance abuse crises. The program will expand this summer to the ByWard Market, Sandy Hill, Lowertown, Vanier and Overbrook.<\/p>\n

But Li also acknowledges that this problem goes beyond enforcement and involves addressing deeper-rooted issues. It\u2019s a perspective legal experts agree with.<\/p>\n

Can police solve the problem?<\/p>\n

Legal experts say law enforcement simply won\u2019t work to solve the rise in open drug use and crime plaguing downtown Ottawa neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had almost 120 years of criminal prohibition of drugs in this country, and we still have these problems that you see every day on the street,\u201d said Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa lawyer and part-time criminology professor at the University of Ottawa.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice cannot solve this problem by applying criminal law, and in many ways, it\u2019s unfair to impose that on them, because they\u2019re being asked to solve a problem with a tool that doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

While law enforcement may be able to go in and sweep the area, Oscapella said all it will do is shift the problem elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can push problematic drug use out of one neighbourhood, but as long as the conditions exist for people to use drugs, people will use drugs,\u201d he said. \u201cAs long as we don\u2019t address those underlying causes of problematic drug use, all we\u2019re doing is shifting the problem around and shifting it from one place to another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joao Velloso, a law professor at uOttawa, said increased enforcement will just create more of a workload for police officers, all \u201cwith very little outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may arrest people who are going to plead guilty for possession, and they\u2019re going to get out over the weekend, which isn\u2019t solving any problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Security stands outside a clinic on Somerset Street in Ottawa in early April.<\/p>\n

Under Canada\u2019s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, a summary conviction for drug possession has a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and six months in jail for a first-time drug offence, though penalties may vary on the type and quantity of the drug. The maximum penalty for possession is set at seven years in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cTargeting possession may sweep things away under the carpet,\u201d Velloso said.<\/p>\n

One way police enforcement may be of use in solving these problems, Velloso added, is by targeting drug trafficking to limit the number of illegal, and potentially harmful, drugs circulating on the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a more complex job to do with the potential for more violence, but these folks are getting drugs somewhere,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re not popping up on trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Closure of supervised consumption sites worsens the problem<\/p>\n

For Oscapella, many of the problems facing Chinatown stem from the closure of supervised consumption sites<\/a> as the province continues to cut off funding.<\/p>\n

And with the impending closure<\/a> of Ottawa\u2019s last two sites<\/a> at Inner City Health and Sandy Hill Community Centre in June, many fear the problem of open drug use is only going to intensify.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe implicit assumption is that if they don\u2019t have a place to use drugs, they won\u2019t use drugs, which is absolute and utter nonsense,\u201d Oscapella said. \u201cThey will use drugs. They will just not have a private, supervised place to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Ottawa police were parked and putting a man in handcuffs Sunday March 22, 2026 in front of the New Dawn Medical: Addiction Treatment Centre.<\/p>\n

And not only are the closures forcing more drug use on the street, but Velloso said community \u201chot spots\u201d for drug use around the consumption sites will no longer exist, causing the issue may further disperse throughout downtown neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

And, he added; this also may also pose additional challenges for law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Drug use problems) tend to be closer to the hot spots, but as the hot-spot bubble explodes and goes everywhere, how is this going to work?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What are the solutions?<\/p>\n

According to Oscapella, open drug use is a public health problem that should be treated with solutions that address the direct roots of why people turn to drugs in the first place.<\/p>\n

In many ways, supervised consumption sites were one of the closest avenues to a solution in Ontario as they met people where they were at while offering direct lines of support to housing, mental health and addiction services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t just about giving people a safe place to inject where it won\u2019t be a public nuisance,\u201d Oscapella said. \u201cIt\u2019s also about trying to get people stabilized, to help them with some of the conditions that are leading to their problematic drug use in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a report from the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, the Somerset West Community Centre received 43,800 visits from 6,329 unique clients from March 2020 to May 2024. During that time, the facility initiated more than 6,000 referrals to housing and addiction treatment services and reversed 1,728 overdoses.<\/p>\n

The Sandy Hill Community Centre initiated more than 37,000 referrals during this same time frame, while Inner City Health at Shepherds of Good Hope (also referred to as The Trailer 2.0) initiated more than 57,000 referrals.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

A mural is painted on the side of a building in Ottawa\u2019s Chinatown in this file photo.<\/p>\n

While solutions to mental health and poverty issues have historically been discussed in the longer-term, Oscapella argued they also have to exist sooner.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, long-term solutions have to be short-term solutions, too,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a way, it\u2019s a bit of excuse-ology, acknowledging that we\u2019re not going to get adequate mental health treatment quickly. But we need to start on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he argued, the longer police are expected to solve the problem, the longer it\u2019ll continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t imprison our way out of the problem, and we can\u2019t prosecute our way out of the problem,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a public health issue, and the longer we treat it as a criminal justice issue, the longer we\u2019re going to have these problems with drug use.\u201d<\/p>\n

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