Kevin Diakiw, Surrey, B.C. (Surrey North Delta Leader) – The City of Surrey and RCMP lined a Whalley social service building with chicken dung to keep homeless and vagrants away, The Leader has learned.
On Aug. 14, witnesses saw City of Surrey staff pull up to the Front Room Drop In Centre in the 10600-block of 135A Street and line the building with putrid poultry manure. The desired effect was to create a smell so repugnant that it would repel vagrants who were hanging out around the building.
Keith Smith was touring the drop in centre and surrounding services on Thursday as part of his schooling in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
He was astounded to see and smell the chicken dung around the building. And he was shocked to hear from front line staff that it was city crews and RCMP that put it there to deter the homeless from settling.
“The stench of the chicken manure in the surrounding area is unbearable,” Smith said in a letter to Mayor Dianne Watts.
“If the South Fraser Community Services (which runs the Front Room) were located strategically as a front line service to aid recovery of people in the active disease of addiction, why would the City of Surrey spread chicken manure along the perimeter of the vacant, rock covered lot, which separates the two South Fraser Community Service buildings?” Smith asked. “Our neighbors in Vancouver seem to have a little better approach to the problem of dealing with the disease of substance abuse.”
One local on 135 Street said on Saturday that there were at least two visits by city trucks dumping the manure in the area. There is also evidence of the same substance on the base of large trees in the park west of the Surrey Food Bank on 135 Street.
Coun. Barinder Rasode said the manure plan was hatched by the Mounties.
“Our understanding is the RCMP initiated it,” said Rasode, who was “deeply troubled” by the strategy.
An e-mail to the mayor from Deputy City Manager Dan Bottrill says that “Surrey RCMP initiated this in order to dissuade individuals from loitering against the buildings bordering the lot.”
Rasode insists elected officials did not know about the initiative.
“Mayor and council were not aware, senior management were not aware,” Rasode said Friday night.
“I think this is a very unfortunate incident,” said Rasode, who is asking that the manure be removed right away.
While “senior” management may not have been aware, Smith said it was city trucks that delivered the manure and city crews that spread it out alongside the building.
Rasode could not say whether the green and white trucks with the city logo were parks staff or engineering crews.
Smith said he heard of several other buildings in North Surrey that have been sprinkled with the stenchy soil to keep vagrants away.
“I’m personally outraged,” Rasode said. “I think this is contrary to the position we’ve taken on the homeless.”
Rasode said the city trying to find out who came up with the plan.
“Somebody has overstepped their authority,” Rasode said.
Mayor Dianne Watts said she was “flabbergasted” to hear of the chicken dung directive.
“I’m certainly going to get to the bottom of this,” said Watts, adding it’s disgusting and a health hazard.
Bottrill’s e-mail to Watts says the area businesses and local business improvement association were in favour of the plan.
That doesn’t make it right, said Watts.
The Downtown Surrey BIA offices were closed Friday night and could not be reached for comment.
The RCMP were unable to comment on the incident, but Friday night’s duty officer was looking into it.
I wonder if they will call this one “Manuregate.” The Vancouver morning DJs are having a field day with the story.
I am sorry about the two nearly identical posts I made yesterday. A power surge occured after I pressed “submit” on the first one and I was pretty certain that it had been lost so I came back later and posted the second one.
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Isn’t it amazing that: 1. you can spread disinformation so easily and predictably; 2. the penchant to jump with both feet on the RCMP at any whiff (sorry) of some impropriety without full possession of the facts. How predictable, how regrettable.
On the upside a mirror.
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Anti-loitering strategy causes a big stink
Rod Mickleburgh, Vancouver, B.C.
Globe and Mail
Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 09:24PM EDT
And the city took another load away. You could tell by the smell, it wasn’t hay. Not by a long shot. In fact, it was prime, grade A chicken manure, which authorities decided was maybe not the best weapon to repel loiterers in the sprawling suburb of Surrey, B.C.
Frustrated bylaw enforcement officials, beset by complaints from nearby business owners, last week lined a vacant lot next to a homeless shelter with poultry excrement in order to discourage a rowdy lot of vagrants and miscreants from hanging out there.
When word of the fowl strategy leaked out, however, the poop hit the fan, confronting acting Surrey mayor Barinder Rasode with her first executive decision. Ms. Rasode didn’t hesitate. Chicken dung, be gone, she declared.
“This is not what we’re about in Surrey,” the acting mayor said Monday, after the last few dregs of dung were vacuumed up by city work crews. “It was an unacceptable, draconian approach. These are people in our community [the homeless] who need support, and this does not treat people with dignity.”
Except that, truth to say, the dung did its job.
“It was a unique decision and obviously controversial, but it was effective,” said Megan Baillie, executive director of South Fraser Community Services, which runs the 24-hour homeless shelter adjoining the manure-laced lot. “That’s the quietest I’ve seen the street in some time.
“In that sense, it did have a positive effect, and it was the bird manure that did it.”
Ms. Baillie said the smell, not surprisingly, was terrible. “During the day, when it was hot, you wanted to close the windows and turn up the air conditioning.”
She said she didn’t necessarily approve of the decision to scatter chicken manure about, but agreed that outside loitering was becoming an increasing problem in the area. “And this does illustrate the bigger crisis, which is homelessness in general. It’s not attractive and people don’t want to see it.”
There had been reports that chicken manure had been scattered outside the Surrey Food Bank, as well, and for the same reason. Not so, said food bank head Marilyn Herrmann.
“I would never let them do that. I have other weapons to use against drug-dealers and people on the street who are up to no good,” she said. “Like my wrath.”
Ms. Hermann said as many as 80 families are lined up in the morning, when the food bank opens. “You get moms and kids, and other family members. If you have street kids hanging around at the same time, it doesn’t mix. But chicken dung? I can’t believe they did it. … That’s pretty creative.”
Ms. Rasode said councillors and senior civic managers had no inkling the chicken dung strategy was going to be trotted out by its own staff. Early on, the deed was mistakenly linked to the RCMP. “I’m very glad to point you back to the city on this one,” a relieved RCMP officer told an inquiring reporter.
So far, the acting mayor said, those responsible have not yet explained what made them thing poultry droppings were the way to go. “We’re still trying to get specifics. I Googled it, and couldn’t find anything about this ever being tried before.”
The decision to return Surrey to a chicken-dung-free zone wasn’t difficult, Ms. Rasode added. Nor did she feel the need to consult with other councillors. “It’s common sense. Our council would never approve this. It’s not how we do things in Surrey.”
Importan Update: The Globe & Mail reports today the RCMP were NOT involved as incorrectly indicated by a Surrey Councillor. City staff formulated the plan.
Article quote: Ms. Rasode said councillors and senior civic managers had no inkling the chicken dung strategy was going to be trotted out by its own staff. Early on, the deed was mistakenly linked to the RCMP. “I’m very glad to point you back to the city on this one,” a relieved RCMP officer told an inquiring reporter.
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Like JohnnyG I read this and had to wonder if it was for real.
The chicken manure was probably cheaper than hiring a private security firm to patrol that area and report problems to the local detachment.
I gotta feel sorry for Surrey’s Mounties on this one. Staffing and equipment shortages are par-for-the-course in the largest detachment in B.C./Canada. The city wants the homeless people discouraged but do not want to pay for more RCMP constables to patrol this rapidly growing city. So the “chickenshit solution” is thought up and enacted. Now someone in city hall signed off on this, the RCMP’s request for a city works crew to spread that manure around had to be okayed by someone…Good luck finding that person now that all the elected officials have denounced the idea. So the Surret detachment is left holding the bag of fertilzer.
The real winner is the chicken farmer from who this manure was purchased from.
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We had better formulate some public policy on the use of chicken manure, including that available in retail outlets. We cannot have the public exposed to such lethal use of force by our police departments without some policy guidelines and perhaps some criminal code amendments. We should also examine the feed rates of the involved chicken herds to ensure they are not being forced to defecate at unsafe levels for their health. Hopefully there are no immigration issues with the collection of said waste product as in other low paying farm jobs. I am sure the Health Department is monitoring safety issues from their perspective. Ministry of Transport no doubt has monitoring in place for the safe delivery of this product to the end user. I am not sure on the safe storage issue at the retail level though
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I agree with JohnnyG, when I read this story I had to wonder if it was for real. Surrey is the largest LMD detachment and staffing and equipment shortages are par-for-the-course. Watts desperately wants to keep her RCMP detachment and not be forced into a metro policing service by SG Kash Heed. Hiring a private security firm to patrol locations like these would probably underscore the Surrey detachment’s understaffing and strengthen Heed’s position. So they try this, uh, chickenshit option.
A city works crew spread the manure; the last time I checked that sort of work order, even if it came from the RCMP detachment, would have to be cleared by someone at city hall. Someone in the city manager’s department. And its likely the city of Surrey purchased the manure from some chicken farmer for the RCMP. So who in city hall knew about this and how far up did this knowledge go? It was a stupid idea which the politicians seem all too quick to blame on the RCMP. Someone in city hall, a civil servant or elected official, had to have signed off on this…
Ultimately, the one person who benefitted from this was the chicken farmer who sold the manure which this story is all about in the first place.
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This stunt seems somewhat innocuous until you look beyond the surface. Bacteria in the chickens’ digestive system is often resistant to antibiotics and these are excreted and wind up in the manure. Immunosuppressed street people are at high risk of developing disease from exposure. A recent study by John Hopkins University confirms the common presence of resistant bacteria, even in aged manure.
http://northerninsights.blogspot.com/2009/08/rcmp-has-new-less-lethal-weaponry.html
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I think you will find that fish fertilizer is much better at deterrence. It was an old trick used by the BCPP to keep the “tramps” from congregating in certain areas of the rail yards. It was also used to keep partying rowdy youths from certain sensitive park areas in the 70s. It has the beneficial side effect of promoting plant growth.
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When we take away high tech toys, good old low tech solutions come into action.
No one dies of heart arrhythmia but this weapon may spread too broadly.
Question though. Is this really from chickens or have the brass found an outlet for their excess Bull S#%t?
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The laws are equal as they say. The rich man is not allowed to sleep under the bridge just like the homeless man. In other words the chicken dung would keep the rich and affluent away the same as the homeless.
Common sense is not common.
There is Justice and Justice According to Law. They are not the same.
Justice Defined: The act of insuring no person is mistreated and guaranteeing that the person who needs the most help gets the most help in the nine major areas of people activity. (Economics, Education, Entertainment, Labour, LAW, Politics, Religion, Sex and War.)
Police Officer Defined: A person who speaks and acts to promote Correctness and Justice among all people, at all times, in all places in the nine major areas of people activity.
Calvin Lawrence
CGL Consulting
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I just looked at my calendar to make sure this wasn’t an April Fools joke. I knew the RCMP had become a chickenshit organization, but this brings it too a new level!!
Nothing like spreading a little farm disease on the streets you patrol.
I would love to see the logic on the CAPRA assessment this individual did. I don’t think this will really solve the problem, as these people will find somewhere else to loiter, maybe one that is even less desirable for them to inhabit.
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