Latest news with #streetdisorder
BBC News
19-07-2025
- BBC News
Leeds schools 'rebuilding trust' after street disorder
A year on from street disorder in Leeds which saw a police car overturned, a double-decker bus torched and 23 people jailed so far, local schools have been picking up the 18 July 2024, teachers at Bracken Edge Primary School were winding down ahead of the last day of term before the six-week summer evening, trouble erupted in nearby Harehills after police assisted social workers in taking four children into emergency foster next day teachers faced classes of confused children and families who were "terrified to come into school"."18 July last year was a really tragic situation and really worrying," says assistant headteacher Amy Potter."Lots of the families that people assumed might be involved were not at all and were actually terrified to come into school."There was a real period of having to build trust up because lots of our communities weren't born in this country and might not be familiar with how things are done professionally in this country."There's been a huge amount of work that's gone into that but then all of a sudden there was this huge and understandable mistrust." The timing of the disorder could not have been worse for the school. Friday was the final day of term and with many families keeping their children at home, staff were about to go six weeks without seeing the children at all."It felt really hard from an educational point of view, and as a teacher and an educator, to send these children away for six weeks and not see them, that was really worrying," adds Ms Potter."But also there's been a huge amount of work at Bracken Edge, we've done many projects to build trust up to try and encourage children back into school and to work with the local community."One of those projects was The Riot, a theatre in education piece created by a group of young performers at Leeds Heritage Riot tells the story of a young person who has recently immigrated to Leeds who is preparing to run away from their foster carer. The schoolchildren are invited to a workshop about moments of the child's life and reflect on what could have been done Hayward, learning and engagement manager at Leeds Heritage Theatres, says theatre allows children to test ideas in a safe environment."If you're wanting children to feel like they belong, everybody is equal when you're making theatre together or when you're watching theatre together."So it's a good way of trying out ideas, trying out scripts, saying words, saying things that might feel a little bit uncomfortable. But it's not you saying it, it's your character saying it. So you have that safe space to explore ideas." 'Really engaged' The Riot toured Bracken Edge Primary School, Hovingham Primary School and Bankside Primary School, working with 420 was created by Ashley Peckri and performed by Gabriel Simpson, Beth Walkden and Madeleine Ivanov, all of whom are members of Leeds Actors in Training project first came about when Bracken Edge headteacher Caroline Carr called the outreach team at Leeds Heritage Potter says the children "loved" the experience and key to that was giving them an active role in the performance, allowing them to make decisions."It really engaged the children. They don't even realise they're learning," she says."Lots of our children are new to English or to the country but there's something everyone can take from theatre and that's what we found, that our children really engaged in the workshops and they could see how what they were doing had an impact on the change."A year on, Ms Potter says things have changed at Bracken Edge - a huge amount of work has gone into rebuilding relationships, especially with the Roma community."Unfortunately one community got the slack for the riots but there's a huge amount of other factors that fed into that. We're a diverse area and we're proud to represent them all," she says."I really feel our children and the children from the local schools understand what it is to be tolerant, to be respectful and we hope we can see that continuing into the community."I will continue to love working in this area. I'm sure, as in many communities, there will be troubles along the way but hopefully what we've done is rebuild some trust and we'll continue to build that positivity." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
CBC
13-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Changes could soon be coming to supportive housing on Granville Street
Supportive housing on Vancouver's Granville Street could be coming to an end. Mayor Ken Sim says the city has struck a deal with the province to put an end to the residences after years of complaints of street disorder. But as CBC's Justin McElroy reports, actually delivering on replacement for these homes could be a challenge.
CBC
05-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
B.C. sends extra police to Williams Lake in response to council's state of emergency proposal
City council in Williams Lake, B.C., won't be declaring a state of local emergency to respond to street disorder after the provincial government promised to immediately deploy more police to help with growing concerns. Some councillors in the community of about 23,000 people, 320 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, had expressed interest in declaring a state of local emergency to address local crime, which they said ranged from break-ins and public drug use to theft and vandalism, from a small number of repeat offenders. Such a declaration could provide the municipality with "emergency powers" such as suspending bylaws, ordering road closures or restricting public gatherings, according to a staff report. But at a special council meeting on June 3, Mayor Surinderpal Rathor announced the Ministry of Public Safety had requested the Cariboo-Chilcotin crime reduction unit be immediately deployed to Williams Lake "to assess the situation and develop operational plans." Rathor said the unit could arrive in town as soon as Wednesday. Because of the provincial commitment, Rathor, who had previously supported considering a state of local emergency, suggested councillors "hold your horses for at least [a] month or so." "Emergency would not fly right now," he said and recommended council take no further action on the declaration. Staff told council that local front-line emergency service agencies, including the RCMP, B.C. Emergency Health Services and Interior Health did not see a benefit in declaring a state of local emergency. "Local emergency response stakeholders stressed that the challenges facing Williams Lake (such as limitations in mental health support, addiction services and housing) require more than temporary measures," said the staff report. "The group expressed a strong call for broad, co-ordinated systemic reforms." Coun. Scott Nelson, who originally put forward the motion to consider a state of local emergency, said the public health situation is dire. "There are people on our streets that are mentally ill that should not be on the streets of Williams Lake," he said, and added, "They're going to hurt somebody." He listed a variety of recent incidents, including fires in garbage bins, a break-in at a law firm and a related robbery at a 7-Eleven. WATCH | Williams Lake mayor considers state of local emergency as response to street disorder: 7 days ago Duration 7:42 The city council of Williams Lake, B.C., is considering a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and escorting people displaying public intoxication or severe mental health issues to the hospital. Mayor Surinderpal Rathor says he hopes this will help the city's reputation and discipline repeat offenders. Coun. Angie Delainey didn't support the declaration but recommended the city invite partners, including the regional district and local First Nations, to review public safety programs and discuss funding strategies. "I don't think it's the sole responsibility of the municipality to pay these costs that we know have been downloaded to us," she said. CBC has reached out to the Ministry of Public Safety for more information on its response to Williams Lake council's concerns and is waiting to hear back. Coun. Michael Moses said he was concerned council wasn't properly consulting the local First Nations or LGBTQ+ communities or unhoused people. "If we proceed with this against the will of First Nations and other marginalized peoples in our community, then I want you to be wary of this path of discrimination that this council will be choosing and the repercussions of it." Nelson's motion was also criticized by Xatśūll First Nation and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association for its potential to criminalize struggling people.
CBC
29-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Williams Lake, B.C., wants to enact state of emergency over public disorder
Social Sharing City council in Williams Lake, B.C., is looking to impose a state of local emergency over an increase in street disorder and violence — but the proposal has received pushback, and it's unclear if the B.C. government would fully support it. Coun. Scott Nelson put forward a motion on Tuesday to ask staff for options regarding a state of local emergency in response to "increased threats to public safety" in the city of around 20,000 people located 324 kilometres northeast of Vancouver. Nelson and the city's mayor, Surinderpal Rathor, say that there has been a sharp increase in public drug use, mental health challenges and fires in the city's downtown core, and the motion gives the city options to deal with it. But civil libertarians and a local First Nation have expressed opposition to the motion, and the province has not said if it would support it. "If they are a person who the RCMP feels may need to go to the hospital because of mental illnesses, they're going to go to the hospital and we're asking that they be looked at, put into involuntary treatment," said Nelson, describing his motion on CBC's Daybreak South. The councillor says that multiple B.C. municipalities are struggling with crime and mental health issues, and the province hasn't stepped up to the plate. He's calling for a "clean sweep" of the city to deal with repeat offenders. "The municipalities don't have the wraparound services, don't have the resources, and yet these people are laying fires to buildings," he said. "These people are threatening their own lives. "It's becoming chaotic, and the province has downloaded this. We need to upload this back into provincial hands so that the appropriate resources can be put in place to help people with mental health issues." Rathor supported the motion, and said he sympathized with people who needed help, but there was a need to protect the business community in the B.C. Interior city. "It would give extra power to the RCMP, if there's people wandering aimlessly here and there ... they can take them to the hospital or wherever the support is needed," he said. WATCH | Rathor expresses support for state of emergency: 10 hours ago Duration 7:42 The city council of Williams Lake, B.C., is considering a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and escorting people displaying public intoxication or severe mental health issues to the hospital. Mayor Surinderpal Rathor says he hopes this will help the city's reputation and discipline repeat offenders. Nelson's motion passed 4-3 in council on Tuesday night. While it doesn't provide an exact timeline for when the state of emergency could happen, the councillor said Wednesday it could be imposed within the next two days. Increase in fires Nelson's motion cites ongoing instances of assaults, open drug use and public indecency, among other things, as being behind the proposed state of emergency. It further alleges that there was an arson that caused a loss of four businesses, and park washrooms vandalized numerous times, in the last few months. The councillor says the city approved $100,000 to police last month in order to provide them more resources to deal with the issue, but the state of local emergency would potentially empower them to do more. "We know that we've got some serious issues with people who have got mental health issues walking our streets right now that should not be on the streets," Nelson said. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said there were ongoing discussions regarding the councillor's concerns, but no decisions had been made yet. "The Williams Lake RCMP continue to meet with city council to work collaboratively on identifying viable options to address ongoing and/or emerging public safety issues," she said. Nelson added that city staff were now working to ensure police, emergency services, and the Interior Health Authority were prepared for the state of emergency. Proposal receives blowback Nelson's motion is not without its critics. The Xatsull First Nation, whose reserve is just north of the city, sent a letter to council expressing strong opposition to the motion. "We stand firmly against these measures — not only because of the disproportionate harm they pose to Indigenous people, but because they risk further marginalizing and criminalizing all people in our city who are struggling," the letter from Chief Rhonda Williams read. "These proposed actions would do nothing to address the root causes of the challenges faced in our community," the letter adds. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) says the motion is simply a "non-starter" in its eyes, especially regarding the direction for police to transport people to hospitals for involuntary treatment. "The Mental Health Act already exists and already has mechanisms ... where [authorities] do have very extreme powers to detain people," said BCCLA policy director Meghan McDermott. "So to suggest that something even more than that is needed, and something as broad as this, is just really dangerous and not the way that our Constitution contemplates life in Canada," she added. While any local government in B.C. can declare a local state of emergency for up to 14 days, if they establish what additional powers they need, it is up to the province to consider extending it. And so far, the province hasn't indicated whether it supports Williams Lake council's bid to declare a state of emergency. Terry Yung, the minister of state for community safety and integrated services, told CBC News that public safety was important to his government and that more concrete plans would be released after talking to Williams Lake council. "In July, in two months, we're going to add 40 emergency shelter beds in Williams Lake," he said. "So we have programs ongoing, but I look forward to actually understanding more challenges on the ground for Williams Lake after consultation."
