Crime deterrence turning a new page

Police and library working together to address downtown issues

City police and the downtown library are working together to curb drug and crime issues. “It’s a public space and it’s in the downtown area, so there’s a certain element of society that congregates there,” said Inspector Tom Ascroft of the Lethbridge Police Service.

“The library itself wants to encourage use and provides an important role in the community,” he said.

“As a result, they have a fairly open facility. But what’s been happening is a lot of illicit activity.”

“It’s not just a library problem,” said Barbara Longair, manager of public services at the Lethbridge Public Library.

“The whole downtown core is having the same issue. We’re trying to be friends and work together.”

Ascroft said access to washrooms, open wireless internet, and simply being a warm place on cold days all serve to attract people who use the library for inappropriate purposes.

“In some cases, there is drug use, there are intoxicated people there, there are drug sales going on, you name it.”

He noted there have also been disturbances reported, including overdoses.

As a result of this activity, police have focused their efforts with co-ordination happening between library management and the LPS Downtown Policing Unit.

Within that unit, individual officers are assigned to areas requiring more attention.

This co-ordination has resulted in nine people being charged with 25 criminal offences in recent months.

Additionally, Longair said the installation of safe disposal containers for needles was an important part of dealing with the issue.

That was a big thing,” she said. “And we’ve just gotten one of the containers on the outside of the building.”

Because the library has exterior lights, drug users would congregate to use drugs and then to make use of the free wireless internet which the library provides as a service.

“We talked to the police, and they wanted us to shut down the wireless internet completely,” Longair said. “We told them we are a library so we can’t really do that.”

Instead, the two groups found a compromise. The library will continue to provide free and open access to the internet for all, but only during hours of operation.

“We recognize we have different mandates,” said Ascroft.

“They want to be open and welcoming, and our role is to move certain people along. So it’s a matter of us not stepping on each other’s toes, but each trying to get what we need done.”

The library has posted signs warning users that people are welcome in the facility but drugs are not.

Offenders could be asked to leave or banned outright, depending on the severity of their behaviour.

“It’s basically, ‘if you see something, say something,’” said Longair. “We’re all in this together. It’s everybody’s job. If you see something suspicious, tell us.”

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