A new sobering centre in Kamloops could be part of the Phoenix Centre, a 20-bed detox facility already operating beside Royal Inland Hospital (Image Credit: Sian Lewis / Phoenix Centre

By Chad Klassen

SOBERING CENTRE

‘Police are not the proper caretakers for these individuals’: Kamloops RCMP pushing for sobering centre

Jan 13, 2021 | 3:51 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s been an idea that’s been discussed for the last decade, but more recently conversations of a sobering centre in Kamloops have become more lively.

Currently, if a person under the influence of drugs or alcohol are taken in by police, they’re placed in cells and held overnight. The superintendent of the Kamloops RCMP, Syd Lecky, says it’s a burden on the system.

“We often times have guards that have to monitor them, and sometimes quite closely,” Lecky told CFJC Today. “Not only is it a policing liability but it’s also a liability on the municipality for whom our guards are municipal employees.”

Between guards watching people in cells and police accompanying people to the emergency at Royal Inland Hospital, Lecky says it can be a drain on resources. Police officers also don’t have the medical expertise.

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“Police are not the proper caretakers for these individuals. We’re not the agency that should be having to deal with these issues,” he said. “I realize it’s costly. Services are costly. Unfortunately, we are the agency of last resort — not only for these issues but on many fronts.”

With the persistence of Sgt. Darren Michels, the RCMP has been collaborating with agencies like the Phoenix Centre to open a sobering centre, a place for people to recover and potentially get the help they need.

Health professionals stress that people specifically struggling with alcohol are at risk of death upon withdrawal and need close monitoring.

“When people are heavily intoxicated, they require the professionals in the healthcare system to have their eyes on those folks to be providing the kinds of assessments that are required to make sure they’re safe,” said executive director of Phoenix Centre, Sian Lewis.

The idea of a sobering centre has been batted about for the last decade, but the death of 49-year-old Randy Lampreau in 2019 has accelerated the process.

Randy Lampreau died in Kamloops RCMP cells in March 2019. Police were cleared of any wrongdoing following his death (Image Credit: Contributed)

The Phoenix Centre, which already operates a 20-bed detox facility, is being proposed as the new home for a six-to-eight-bed sobering centre.

“We would operate it 12-hours-a -ay, so opening in early evening through to the morning,” said Lewis. “People are coming in strictly to sober up, but if at some point in time they wake up and they say, ‘Jeez, I’d like to now carry on to detox,’ we can shift them directly into a detox bed.”

Lecky added, “One of the bigger concerns is we’re not doing anything for the client. So if we have someone, we sober them up, then we send them back on the streets — we haven’t really done anything to solve what is the lasting problem and the underlying issue, which is the addiction.”

City council gave their support for a sobering centre at Tuesday’s (Jan. 12) meeting. Kamloops now just needs provincial funding to make it a reality. Lecky and Mayor Ken Christian will be sending the business case to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions this week.

CFJC Today reached out to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson, but she wasn’t available for comment.