Councillor wants more lighting in back alleys to discourage crime
Sylvia Buffalo and grandson Travis take a walk through downtown Monday.
One of the things we talked about is... a tax exemption if you put lighting on the back of your garage.
In an effort to literally shine light on Regina’s crime situation, Coun. Joel Murray has put forward a proposal to look at installing back-alley lighting in high crime areas of the North Central neighbourhood.
Murray, who participates in a monthly ride-along in the neighbourhood, also began speaking with Regina Police Service (RPS) Chief Evan Bray and officers about the need for lights in back alleys.
“I represent Ward 6 and some of the highest crime rates are there,” Murray said. “Whenever I am out on a ride-along, one of the things I notice is that there are some specific areas in North Central that don’t have back-alley lighting.”
One of the most common concerns he heard from RPS officers was the inability of witnesses to identify trespassers at night.
“Talking with the officers, they say it is difficult for people who are calling something in,” Murray said. “Looking in their backyards, they can’t tell what they are looking at.”
In a motion put forward through Coun. Bob Hawkins at the community and protective services committee meeting, city administration was asked to research and report back to the committee on the cost of adding back-alley lighting to high crime areas, and to find alternative methods to finance the initiative.
“If there are any special programs that the government may come out with, the provincial and federal governments would be the two to go to,” Murray said. If no alternative method can be found, then the proposal will be forwarded to future budget deliberations.
Residents may also play a role in helping to bring back-alley lights to their own neighbourhoods.
“One of the things we talked about is the idea of not having mandatory motion lighting for residents, but a tax exemption if you put lighting on the back of your garage,” Murray said.
Another component of Murray ’s proposal is that administration report back after one year to determine if the initiative is effective.
“We want to start this as a pilot project where we identify three back alleys,” Murray said. “One year from now, let’s see if the opportunistic crime has gone down. Do a comparable and see if it is effective or not.”
In Calgary and Edmonton, ENMAX and Epcor installs lighting on existing utility poles, with the residential lots backing the alley paying the cost of installation. In 1998, Chicago began an initiative to install lights in alleys throughout the city and monitor the results. While substance abuse in alleys saw a 51 per cent increase, crimes such as trespassing, weapons violations or prostitution saw decreases or very small increases.
“I think whenever you are looking at crime prevention and environmental design, that is something you look at in the equation,” Murray said. “Is it going to disperse the crime severely, or are we dispersing it at a rate that allows us to keep up with it? That would be part of the equation that we look at.”