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“We’re trying to figure out why that specifically would be, but we’ve also seen amount of usage at the site has also gone up significantly.”

To address the soaring crime rate, Davidson said police have boosted their presence in the area — both overtly and covertly — in an effort to stymie drug dealers targeting the vulnerable population that has flocked to the site.

“We’re seeing a lot of open air-drug trafficking and people trying to sell stolen property,” said Davidson, adding they began sending more resources to the area between August and September.

“We found we had some very blatant drug trafficking in the area and we hit that very hard. Our focus has been very much on the supply and distribution of methamphetamine.”

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said while the deadly effects of opioids such as fentanyl has been a major focus, the rise of meth, which is readily available for as little as $3 to $5 a hit, has created a new kind of challenge for law enforcement.

“There are many reasons for that, one of them by the way is that one of the effects of meth is it keeps you warm and it helps you stay awake, so for people who don’t feel safe at night on the streets or in the shelters, this is something they can turn to,” he told reporters Tuesday.

“But it also leads to unpredictability, it leads to sometimes violent behaviour and it leads to real social problems, so it is absolutely the case that we’ve got to have a real focus on meth as we have on opioids.”

Despite the recent police crackdown, Davidson said the tone at community meetings has been one of growing discomfort and fear about both crime trends and a surge in complaints about used needle debris in public spaces.