Photos taken by city bylaw officers that were submitted to staff at the parks and recreation department for cleanup. Members of the Medicine Hat Police Commission were provided a presentation Wednesday on the progress of the PEACE team.--HANDOUT PHOTOS
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Members of the Medicine Hat PEACE team, founded in 2025, performed 754 visits on homeless encampments last year, up from 327 in 2024.
Members of the Medicine Hat Police Commission heard Wednesday night that due to repeated interactions with the same individuals, members visited 123 different encampments in 2025.
Brad Potts, supervisor, municipal bylaw enforcement, provided committee members a presentation on daily operations of the PEACE team, which stands for proactive engagement and community enhancement team, formed to identify homeless encampments.
The PEACE team consists of local first responders including police, fire and EMS, as well as other stakeholders like bylaw enforcement, Community Housing, parks and recreation and the Miywasin Friendship Centre.
Potts told commission members the team’s main objective is to provide education on local housing and social assistance resources, as well as enforcement of social disorder-type behaviour as a final resource following education and warnings consisting of fines and charges.
After receiving a call, PEACE team members will make contact and attempt to provide various services to the individual or group of people sleeping outside and provide them with a bottle of water and small snack.
Potts says team members will then encourage individuals to arrange appointments with Medicine Hat Community Housing or the Miywasin Friendship Centre to place them in suitable housing.
“We issue notices to vacate an encampment and educate occupants about relevant bylaws, we issue fines when required and co-ordinate the cleanup of abandoned property,” said Potts, who says team members will also clean up any needles or drug paraphernalia laying around in the area.
A “Notice to Vacate” made be issued in person, or in written documents if no one is at the site. This notice will contain the date city crews intend to clear the encampment.
“Bylaw co-ordinates the cleanup of encampments with parks (and rec) via email with attached GPS co-ordinates and photographs,” said Potts.
Potts says last year members of the PEACE team took a proactive approach by patrolling the city three days each week.
In 2025 the team made contact with 123 encampments, with 74 receiving two or more service request calls.
“When you break that down further, of the 123, 49 were dealt with only one time and 74 individuals were dealt with multiple times,” said Potts.
Last year the PEACE team issued a total of 39 fines, including 21 camp without permission fines, 15 improper disposal of waste fines and two outdoors in a hazardous manner fines.
Potts also shared a series of photographs of encampments to members of the commission taken in predominantly wooded areas throughout the city, including behind Medalta in the Historic Clay District, near the South Saskatchewan River, Gas City Campground and the Big Marble Go Centre.
To wrap up 2025, members of the PEACE team met Nov. 18 to identify areas of success. Potts says five key issues arose, including working as a team, building a rapport with members of the vulnerable community, compassion shown by officers, an education-first approach and the addition of a support worker from the Opioid Dependency Program with “lived experience.”
“This addition was a huge win for the team and assisted in many ways by breaking down communication barriers, building trust, providing authentic insights for the team and the vulnerable on the street and acting as a go-between or an ice-breaker for service providers and encampment residents,” said Potts.
The team’s largest challenges include a lack of available community housing options, with Potts citing the closure of the McMan’s Roots Youth Shelter and Mustard Seed Day shelter, leaving the team with fewer resources to provide vulnerable Hatters.
Other challenges include mental health issues, substance abuse and addiction and a lack of motivation to seek out or accept community support.
This year the PEACE team is planning to increase the availability of its support worker for the Opioid Dependency Program from one day a week to every day the team patrols.
The team will also increase data collection on proactive and reactive homeless encampment calls and develop an online form that will allow public complaints to attach GPS co-ordinates and photographs of encampment sightings.
“This will allow for staff efficiency and take the guessing game out of finding some locations,” added Potts.
