Police add more officers to patrol downtown
FOUR OFFICERS REDEPLOYED FROM ALERT UNIT
The Lethbridge Police Service is making manpower changes to address the safety concerns of downtown business owners, and is seeking more money from city council to add even more bodies on the streets for next year’s budget, said Chief Rob Davis at Wednesday’s Police Commission meeting.
“We took four officers out of the ALERT unit the City of Lethbridge taxpayers pay for,” explained Davis. “We have redeployed them from the ALERT unit to downtown. We still have officers working in that function in ALERT, but we took four from there to double up our street presence in the downtown core. That’s where the issues are, and I always say you have to take care of the issues in your own backyard. That’s where we need the officers and that’s where they have been deployed. Hopefully the citizens and the businesses see a difference.”
Downtown Police Unit commander Sgt. Robin Klassen explained at the same Police Commission meeting how these four new officers would be deployed.
“We are going to supplement the teams that are working right now, and we’re going to double up what we have,” she said. “We usually have somebody working a day shift, somebody working an afternoon.
“We will have two working a day shift and two working an afternoon, which gives us sometimes four officers working in the downtown during that kind of busy afternoon period when we tend to have more activity going on.”
On top of reassigning the four officers, Davis is also asking for more money from city council to add 15 new special constables or community peace officers to bolster uniformed presence downtown, and in other problem areas of the city.
“What those would be are fully trained officers, but we would limit their duties, and we can keep them in a specific area,” confirmed Davis.
He has also asked for a dozen new community volunteers be trained to take part in the Ambassador Watch Program starting next year.
“It’s actually a blend of civilian volunteers and some civilian paid employees,” said Davis. “We are basing it on the Winnipeg model, which has been around for years and which has been very successful. They will receive training in key areas, and they wind up being a visible presence downtown. They are eyes and ears for the police, but beyond that they are a resource for different stakeholders, So if someone, for example, is in need of shelter, they would be able to steer them toward the homeless shelter. If someone is in need of a meal, they could steer them toward where someone is offering food. We can also educate them so they can be more of a resource for tourists, if that’s something we want to do. There is lots of latitude.”
This addition of downtown manpower comes with a hefty price tag. The City would have to spend $1.66 million in 2019 for the special constables or peace officers and another half million on the Ambassador Watch Program, expenses which would be ongoing every year for the next four years.
Downtown BRZ board member Hunter Heggie urged city council, during his remarks to the commissioners, to pay out the money and do whatever is necessary to get more law enforcement bodies on the streets and visible in the downtown.
“We realize the police are given limited funds, and they need more money,” said Heggie. “When we went to council last week (at the Community Issues Committee meeting) we were told there is no more money. I say to council: find the money. Look at the budget and find it. We need someone to come forward and take charge. How far do things have to deteriorate before someone steps up and takes responsibility and says ‘let’s fix this?’”
Heggie, in an apparent swipe at Mayor Chris Spearman — who updated the media and members of council on Monday on the City’s efforts to organize a mutual letterwriting campaign among mid-sized city mayors to put pressure on the federal and provincial governments to provide more resources to fight the drug problem — said the time for talk has passed.
“I understand letters have been sent to both provincial and federal governments,” stated Heggie. “That’s a start; however, we were hoping for a little bit more than that. A little more than a letter. So just in case the letters get lost in the mail, or they end up sitting in a pile on a desk somewhere, or maybe the letters aren’t accepted with the sense of urgency that is needed — how about this? We go to Edmonton and Ottawa and bend every ear that will listen, talk to anyone and everyone who can help, don’t stop until we have the funding and solutions, knock on every door until we find the expertise and resources needed to fix this. If they don’t answer the door, let’s kick it in.”
“It’s time for action,” Heggie added. “While we are waiting for help, the hole is getting deeper, the problems worse.”