As facilities reopen across Durham, municipalities are working to protect staff from increasingly abusive behavior by residents frustrated by COVID-19 rules.
“If someone becomes abusive, it’s just not right. You are an adult, put on your mask. “Life is not just about you, it’s about other people,” said Oshawa Regional Councilor Rick Kerr.
More and more often, front-line staff at municipal buildings are abusing customers – usually those who are upset by COVID-19 public health regulations, officials say. The increase in abuse mainly affects staff working in the screening stations and looking for evidence of vaccination and mask wear.
“In the arenas, you have families with young children and someone shouting and cursing at staff,” said Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster. “When the pandemic is over, will people have learned new behaviors that you can only start with the person behind the counter?”
After being closed for most of January, most municipal facilities reopened on Monday, January 31st. Recreational facilities operate within 50 percent capacity and patrons aged 12 and over must show identification along with an improved vaccine certificate with QR code. All customers must wear a mask and screen before entering the facility.
While the majority of the public understands a lot about the pandemic protocols, the cases of “insulting and foul language” are increasing as the pandemic continues, Clarington’s director of community services, George Acorn, explained.
“The level of frustration is up with the public. “There is a disturbing increase in abusive behavior towards our staff in leisure facilities when they do the selection,” said Acorn. “It was quite significant, some of the incidents. This is very upsetting to me and other senior staff. They just do their job. They have to screen. ”
Disruptive patrons were not created by the pandemic. Municipalities have had ways for years of requiring decorum in their facilities.
Clarington Community Services has a code of conduct that requires respect for the public, staff and the facility. Oshawa has a code of conduct and respect control policy to promote a safe and supportive environment. Ajax has a public conduct policy that sets out expectations for appropriate conduct. Whitby’s public behavior policy outlines unacceptable behavior, including profanity, threats, and disorderly conduct.
“The majority of our visitors supported the ongoing changes that facilities staff had to implement as a result of the provincial and public health measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” John Romano, Whitby’s Community Services Commissioner, said in an email. . “However, as expected, emotions can sometimes be high and there were times when visitors expressed frustration over the changing requirements for access to our facilities.”
As the nuisance behavior increased in the course of the pandemic, many municipalities intensified their responses.
Clarington has increased supervisor presence at recreational facilities to support front-line workers and has a staff member and security person at most of the busy facilities. Oshawa has expanded its Respect Control Policy to include all properties and facilities.
Several municipalities have increased the enforcement of “zero-tolerance policies” for abusive patrons. No tolerance means that users who are disrespectful and abusive will be asked to leave. Residents could be kicked out for the day, or banned for several days if the behavior was particularly severe or a recurring incident.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy; people may have a temporary ban on entering city facilities. And rightly so, we are not going to let our staff suffer verbal or sometimes physical abuse, ”Kerr said. “If someone cannot control themselves, they are essentially restricted – banned for a day, or more than a day.”
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: We looked at how Durham municipalities managed improved COVID-19 regulations at facilities and found an increasing problem with abusive customers.
Reference-www.thestar.com