A Tri-City volunteer's regular sweeps of areas where drug users congregate outdoors are turning up far fewer needles than those cited by local politicians.
Sandy Burpee, a longtime housing advocate, spends four hours every Saturday doing needles sweeps with a staff member from the Gordon Avenue homeless shelter.
He says he and his partner may find 10 to 25 needles over that period, as well as other drug paraphernalia such as pipes, during the weekly walk — not the thousands cited by Port Coquitlam politicians in a recent Tri-City News article.
But most of the sweep takes place in areas in Coquitlam, between Westwood and the Coquitlam Central Station transit loop, not PoCo, where caches of needles have occasionally been found behind businesses.
Burpee says he and the shelter staffer typically find the needles in out-of the way areas where the public doesn’t go.
“It varies from week to week," Burpee told The Tri-City News. "Occasionally, we’ll stumble cross a cache where someone has stashed away a few needles."
But he is quick to defend RainCity Housing Society's shelter at 3030 Gordon Ave., pointing out that staff do daily sweeps around the building and nearby properties at 6 a.m., including a trip to nearby Fox Park, where a needle was found last fall.
As well, Fraser Health has funded a part-time worker to do additional sweeps on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays based on information from where needles have been found in the past.
Burpee said he believes the local homeless shelter is not to blame for the needle problem but, rather, the proliferation may be from needles distributed by a Fraser Health harm-reduction program contracted to a New Westminster organization.
“It’s less about 3030 Gordon opening, It’s more about the general increase in the amount of drugs people are using,” Burpee said, adding that needles were found in the Tri-Cities long before the permanent shelter opened.
Burpee said needles are most likely to be found in areas well away from the public, such as in forested areas, not along sidewalks and popular hiking trails.
“What we’re looking for are syringes because syringes are things that most people react very strongly to when they see them in public. We do occasionally find pipes that can be used for cocaine or crystal meth.”
In addition to the weekly sweeps for needles, Burpee also volunteers his time to pick up garbage in the area every second Monday. The longtime housing advocate said he finds satisfaction in doing the work.
But it's also important to ensure 3030 Gordon isn’t seen as being responsible for all problems in the community. When the shelter was being planned, few thought about needles as alcohol abuse was more of a concern, but Burpee acknowledged that even just a few people can be responsible for many discarded needles, regardless of where they live, if they are careless.
“Harm reduction is not going to work if a person doesn’t have a clean needle every time. The end result is you’re finding them strewn around.”
RainCity spokesperson Bill Briscoll said the more in-depth sweeps done Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays have been carried out with some success over the last three weeks, thanks in part to the information provided by Burpee and the staff member.
• If you find a discarded needle, call the Stride with Purpose Health Van at 604-351-1885 for collection and safe disposal.
