City police will soon be able to take intoxicated people off the street and keep them at a new facility for up to a day to sober up. The Integrated Stabilization Centre will be inside Edmonton police headquarters. It’s part of a $30-million announcement by the province bolstering addictions services in the Edmonton area, including adding over 400 new treatment, housing and stabilization beds. But perhaps the most significant new service is the 18-bed stabilization centre that is scheduled to open later this summer. Under the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act, police will have the power to detain people high on drugs or alcohol who they believe pose a risk to themselves or the public for up to 24 hours. Rick Wilson, Alberta’s minister for mental health and addiction, says the placement of the stabilization centre inside police HQ came as the facility there was already set up as a health centre, and has “the ability to keep people in a safe environment.” Provincial health data suggests more than half of Alberta’s opioid-related deaths now happen in Edmonton. The stabilization centre will be a secure but non-criminal space. Edmonton Police Deputy Chief Derek McIntyre said it intends to divert those in care away from the justice system once they’ve been stabilized by Recovery Alberta medical staff, “connecting people to voluntary treatments and supports that meet their unique needs in that moment.” Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack said if the province was only announcing the creation of the stabilization centres, he may not have supported it, saying it is just one of a “host of many tools being announced today.” “That’s what gives me hope,” Knack said. They include compassionate intervention facilities the province is building in both Edmonton and Calgary for involuntary addiction treatment. They’re set to open in 18 months. Other additions to recovery services in the Edmonton area include 25 new beds at the Lakeview Recovery Community in Gunn, raising its capacity to 100, and the soon-to-be-complete Enoch Cree Nation and Métis Nation recovery communities of 76 and 75 beds, respectively. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
