In this episode of Keep Moving, we talk with Katy Ingraham about the Edmonton Police Commission and the Public Spaces Bylaw. It’s important to consider the role of the Edmonton Police Commission in overseeing policing policies in our city, and the role of ordinances set to regulate the use of public space. The number of encampment evictions in the city has been steadily increasing since 2016, the year Rogers Place arena opened downtown, as part of a sport-related gentrification scheme in Edmonton’s city-centre. As research shows around the continent, gentrification often comes with displacement and banishment of pre-existing residents. And even in instances where more so-called compassionate or benevolent practices are used, the end result is the same: encampment evictions, and the visibility of homelessness managed by municipal governments, leads to heightened risks of harm for unhoused residents.  Across the continent, municipal and police responses to encampments are often based on assumptions that encampments decrease safety and increase crime. It is important, however, to consider evidence-based research on the policing of encampment evictions. Because rigorous research, including research involving police perspectives, largely shows the opposite. Similar to where safer consumption sites are located, only does crime not increase in areas with encampments, but in some cases it even goes down. And locally, Edmonton Police Service officers involved in research studies on encampment evictions say these evictions don’t work. This mirrors the wider research findings on encampments: Encampment evictions, researchers have noted, are socially, physically, and psychologically harmful. Evidence-based research should guide our city’s leadership, not misguided, ideological assumptions.  Keep Moving is a podcast about life in the beautiful Beaver Hills, houseless encampments, Pekiwewin, and much more. This episode of Keep Moving originally aired live on CJSR 88.5FM on Monday, January 13, 2025. It was rebroadcast with updates on Monday, January 20, 2025. Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/keepmovingpodcast⁠ Instagram: ⁠@KeepMovingPodcast⁠

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