A Brazeau County resident is taking local government officials and enforcement services to task on what he feels is an urgent issue for the community.
Rob Pollard, a long-time resident of the community, has sent a letter to town council, county council, Drayton Valley-Devon MLA Andrew Boitchenko and the local RCMP detachment, outlining the issues he believes need to be addressed sooner rather than later. He says others in the community feel the same way.
“I am writing on behalf of concerned residents of Drayton Valley who are witnessing firsthand the growing impact of homelessness on our community. While we recognize the human side of this issue, the current approach — rooted in leniency and passive tolerance — is no longer sustainable. The time has come for firm, coordinated, and results-driven action,” says Pollard in his letter.
He finished his letter with four Calls to Action and Timelines for Implementation.
The first was a call to increase the RCMP and Peace Officer presence in high-risk areas with strict enforcement of bylaws relating to loitering, vandalism, and public intoxication by July 15. He asked for a public strategy from the Town and County outlining how individuals who refuse support services will be relocated or removed from public spaces for August 1. By September 1, he requests an implementation of a zero-tolerance policy for repeat offenders who pose a risk to public safety or property. The final request, to be put in place by October 1, is the formation of a Community Safety Task Force, including law enforcement, municipal leaders, and residents, to monitor progress and recommend further action.
Pollard says the deadlines he’s put on the Calls to Action end just before the election for a reason. He says if the current council can’t come up with some progress by that point, he thinks it might be time to bring in some new people.
In an interview, Pollard says his concerns regard the effect that homelessness and the unsheltered individuals have on a community. He says federal studies show that homeless people use emergency services more often than others and also spend more time at the hospital. Overall, he says it’s taxing on the community as a whole.
“It’s the homeless people in town,” says Pollard. “My issue is with them.”
Pollard has spoken to the Town, the RCMP, and other residents around the community about the issues with homelessness. He says in all of his conversations, only the Town doesn’t believe there is an issue.
“Everybody you talk to is upset about it, but when you talk to the Town, they say that nobody ever mentions it,” he says.
However, Pollard has cited the Town website as confirming his thoughts on the matter.
“In addition to car theft, theft of valuables from homes and businesses is also on the rise,” says the website on their RCMP page under the Theft Prevention tips. That, along with an RCMP ad playing on Big West Radio, shows there is a problem with crime in the community, he says.
“Why would they produce an ad that says ‘If you don’t lock it up, it will be gone,’ if there isn’t theft?” says Pollard.
He says recent reports of drug-related arrests show that drugs are an issue in the community, which is only contributing to the problems with homelessness.
Though he believes that many of the property crimes are committed by members of the homeless population, Pollard says he is aware there are some housed individuals who are also causing issues within the community.
Yet he doesn’t believe those individuals are causing most of the problems. He says his family has had personal experience with running into unsheltered individuals and, in one instance, his wife didn’t feel comfortable going into a bank because there was a man in the foyer harassing people. Pollard says there are many people in the community that have had reason to be afraid.
“This isn’t me, alone. I’ve had about 400 calls on this and people are saying the same things I am,” he says.
Along with the crime rate, Pollard says he’s concerned about the well-being of those residing in the homeless encampment. He says the situation is unsanitary and unsafe and feels no one should have to live that way.
“I just think it can be dealt with in a better way,” says Pollard. “It’s horrible how they live, too. I think there is a lot of proactive things that can be done to help them and better the community.”
Staff Sergeant Ryan Hoetmer says the ad playing on the radio isn’t there because of an increase in crime. Instead, the ad is part of a proactive campaign called Lock It or Lose It, which has been running for years.
“From our office’s standpoint, the Town has worked diligently towards trying to solve this homeless situation and we’ve worked in partnership with them, supporting them in that,” says Hoetmer. “I have always maintained homelessness in and of itself is not a policing issue. It is a community issue because it’s not illegal to be homeless.”
Since 2020, there has been a steady decline in reports of property crime in the community, according to the Drayton Valley Municipal Detachment Crime Statistics Report for 2020-2024.
There were 679 reports of property crime in 2024, which is 29 percent lower than 2020.
In total, 2024 saw an increase of 24 complaints over 2023, though that number is still lower than the numbers reported from 2020 to 2022.
From January to May 2025, there were 258 reports of property crime, which is 15 more reports than last year during the same time period.
When looking at other communities with a population less than 10,000, Drayton Valley is slightly above average with about 150.7 criminal code cases per 1,000 people, as opposed to an average of 131.
Hoetmer says the RCMP interact with homeless individuals because homelessness tends to come with mental health and addictions issues. He says this can also sometimes result in mischief, property crimes or thefts under $5,000.
However, Hoetmer says that crimes committed in rural Alberta are mostly committed by dedicated prolific offenders. Those individuals have the tools and the means for most of the major property crimes.
In response to Pollard’s letter, the Town released a statement.
“Once considered a ‘big city’ issue, homelessness has become more noticeable in smaller communities like Drayton Valley and many others in rural Alberta. We are not alone in facing this ‘new’ issue. However, small communities are not equipped or funded to support the unique needs of these individuals and are looking to the province for those supports. Over the last few years, Town Council has advocated to the province for solutions and continues to keep those lines of communications open and press for options.”
