One apartment building in downtown Guelph accounts for hundreds of police calls a year – about 20 every month – a CBC Investigation has found in data obtained through Freedom of Information requests.

In 2015, police were there almost every day.

The four-storey building at 90 Carden Street has 52 apartments, while the ground floor contains a variety store and a methadone clinic.

Although the number of calls may not result in an equally high number of charges by police, the data paint a picture of a troubled address that generates a disproportionate demand on time and resources from the city's emergency responders.

The building is a hotspot for a number of reasons – it's centrally located across from the city's transit hub, the rent is affordable, it's close to social services, and in a city with a low rental vacancy rate, it's a place for people to go.

The average wait time for affordable housing in downtown Guelph is about two years, according to Eddie Alton, the social services administrator with the County of Wellington.

Calls and response

A year ago, police got 347 calls to respond to 90 Carden Street. This year, between January and September, police made 250 responses to the building, a number that surpassed some previous years' totals.

9-1-1 calls, verbal arguments, and noise complaints are the three most common calls police receive relating to the address. Other common calls include checking on the well-being of a person, calls about an unwanted person in a residence, and calls about a person who needs medical care and may have been transported to hospital.

Total police calls to 90 Carden Street per year 2012 244 2013 261 2014 210 2015 347 2016 - to Sept.30 250

It's important to note that police visits do not reflect the number of charges laid. Police may field hundreds of calls but lay charges in very few cases.

On the other hand, responding to one incident can result in multiple calls; for example, response to an assault may require an additional visit later for forensic examination, where a specially-trained officer is called to gather evidence like fingerprints.

The most common type of call is what's termed a filed 9-1-1 call, meaning police may have referred it to emergency medical responders or the fire department.

Number of times a call resulted in at least one charge at 90 Carden Street by year 2012 34 2013 32 2014 17 2015 37 2016 37

"Most medical calls we just back up GWEMS (Guelph Wellington Emergency Medical Service) for their safety," wrote police spokesman Const. Michael Gatto in an email.

Over the time period from January 2014 to October 2016, EMS responded to six cardiac arrests and 11 overdoses at 90 Carden Street, according to Stephen Dewar, the chief of the GWEMS.

Top types of police calls to 90 Carden Street, 2012-Sept. 2016 Call type Total number of calls Filed 9-1-1 call 106 Verbal argument- no clear aggressor 86 Noise complaint 72 Check well-being 55 Residential prop. 47 Unwanted person - at residential prop. 46 Transported to hospital 43 No offence - person stop 37 At/near residential prop.-disturbance 34 Administrative - other 26 Residential prop. theft under 26 Male suspect - female victim 24 Neighbour dispute 24







When charges arise

For calls that do result in charges, the cases can be troubling.

For example, in September of 2015, police were called to the building for reports of a man pointing a firearm out a window. The firearm turned out to be a replica, and police found other replica weapons, including a replica high-powered rifle, and drugs including heroin and oxycodone pills worth about $800.

Earlier in 2015, police were called to the building in June, after neighbours reported of a strong smell coming from a third-floor apartment. On arrival, police found the body of a 21-year-old man. Investigation later determined his death was not considered suspicious.

Variety of calls

One of the hallways of the Station View apartment building at 90 Carden Street in downtown Guelph. Police get hundreds of calls about the building every year. (Andrea Bellemare/CBC)

Records also show trends: 24 calls related to a male suspect and female victims, while a further 15 calls relate specifically to domestic disputes, and nine calls were about a female suspect and her male victim. There are also calls due to disputes between neighbours, between siblings, and between the landlord and tenants.

Over the same four-year period, police responded to 13 public urination complaints.

Some events have occurred just once in the nearly five-year period the data covers, but are serious nonetheless. Those include distribution of child pornography, a suicide, uttering forged documents, assaulting a police or peace officer and one call about arson.

In 2016, calls continue

In 2016, there have been a number of significant police calls to the building.

In January, a 53-year-old man barricaded himself inside his apartment on the afternoon of January 11, leading to an overnight standoff with police. Carden Street East was closed, and Guelph Transit buses were re-routed from their regular stops at the station across the street. Around 7:20 the next morning, a tactical unit took the man into custody and then to Guelph General Hospital.

In February, a 32-year-old man was arrested. He faces several weapons charges after an altercation between himself and another man involving a collapsible baton. Later that same month, the Guelph police tactical unit apprehended a man in medical distress who was reported to be armed.

In April, a 26-year-old man man who was alleged to have broken into the 90 Carden laundry room was arrested and found carrying marijuana, crystal meth and a knife. He faces drugs and weapons charges in relation to the case, as well as a breach of probation charge.

In October, a dispute in the lobby of the building led someone to discharge a can of bear spray and point a replica firearm at others in the dispute. A 25-year-old Guelph man is facing multiple weapons charges as a result.

The numbers only tell part of the story of 90 Carden, but they do paint a picture of a building that is a magnet for many people: some who are down on their luck and struggling, some who are engaging in crime, and some who are trying to get to a better place.

Tomorrow on The Morning Edition and online, we speak to Guelph police's downtown liaison officer about the challenges police face when they're called to the same address repeatedly.