COFFEE AND TALK WITH COPS
Rebirth of Drouillard Road top topic at Windsor police outreach event
The renaissance has begun.
Lower crime, returning residents and a re-energized business community dominated the conversation Wednesday during a meet-and-greet with Windsor police on Drouillard Road.
“When I was in high school, it was, ‘Oh, you live on Drouillard, my parents won’t let me go to your house,’ ” said Gillian Benoit, who has returned to Drouillard Road after moving away years ago. “Now my kids don’t face that same stigma. I can see it changing.”
Windsor police hosted Coffee with Cops Wednesday at the Gino and Liz Marcus Community Complex. It was an informal two-hour session for residents to meet with police, including Chief Al Frederick, and voice their concerns.
Frederick said the new initiative is meant to build relationships with citizens. Police will be doing similar events in other neighbourhoods.
“It just gives us an opportunity to interact with community members on their own turf and in a good environment having a cup of coffee, which everyone enjoys,” he said.
Frederick said the big issue he heard was a desire for more police visibility.
The other main concern Wednesday was prostitution. Renaldo Agostino, a volunteer with Border City Boxing, said there are a handful of prostitutes still working Ford City street corners. That’s a problem, he said, when kids come to the club.
“There are certain activities that we think twice about doing,” said Agostino. “Like, we think twice about letting the kids run around the block. That’s a tough pill to swallow in 2017. One of the reasons is there are still remnants of prostitution that exist in this neighbourhood.”
Border City Boxing is suggesting the installation of video cameras, something that has already been done downtown.
“If you know there are video cameras recording things that are going on in the neighbourhood, most likely you’re not going to want to be seen doing that,” said Agostino. “I think that is a small initiative that is not cost prohibitive that the BIA and community partners can get involved in.”
Frederick said prostitution is a tricky problem to fix. Underlying issues, including employment, education and addiction need to be addressed to totally eradicate it, he said.
“If we target a neighbourhood to try to identify those people participating in the sex trade, it will transfer to another neighbourhood and then back again,” he said. “It’s a very difficult problem to tackle.”
Despite those concerns the Ford City Neighbourhood Renewal, a community engagement group funded by United Way, touted police statistics that show steady decline in the crime rate over the last five years.
The number of violent crimes in Ford City has dropped from 40 in 2012 to 28 in 2016. Property crimes dropped from 160 to 104. The category totalling “other criminal code” offences plummeted from 48 to 13.
The group also boasted of a coming economic turnaround in Ford City. There is a new reclaimed wood and furniture business on Drouillard, along with a sushi and food shop. Plans for a brewery are in the works and an artist is setting up space. Ford City Neighbourhood Renewal said an individual is also looking at setting up a business accelerator and cafe.
Benoit is also one of those new business owners. After growing up on Drouillard, she moved away partly over safety concerns after having children. But she still volunteered to help out the area.
“I started to feel like a hypocrite not living in the area that I love, and I’m telling everyone it’s a great area,” said Benoit, also a member of the Ford City Residents in Action group.
She and her husband recently moved back. They bought a house on Drouillard and started a tax business called Ford City Financial.
“Just so I can show people that I’m being serious, it’s really not what the past was, the stereotype that we’ve been carrying for so long,” she said. “Now it’s starting to dissipate, people are starting to notice. Crime stats are down. We have all these family-friendly activities that aren’t seen in every neighbourhood. We have a coming together of the community.”