Pleasant Hill residents meeting to address crime in community
‘This is a space for us to come out as victors rather than victims’: organizer
Fed up after the fourth firearms incident in their neighbourhood in five days, the people of Pleasant Hill decided it was time to hold an emergency meeting to discuss solutions to the cluster of violence, including the shooting death of 31-year-old Mark Enwaya this month.
Residents and stakeholders plan to gather at Station 20 West on Friday at 7 p.m. for an emergency meeting organized by the community association. At least 200 people are expected to attend. The meeting is open to residents of surrounding communities, including Meadowgreen, Riversdale, Westmount and Mount Royal.
“We felt we needed to call the community together to discuss a way out of the situation we’re in as neighbourhoods,” said Shane Partridge, safety co-ordinator for the Pleasant Hill Community Association.
Partridge said elected federal and provincial representatives will be there, but media will be excluded.
“This isn’t a movie. People can’t come and watch a community struggle and try and dig itself out of a hole that the government and all these institutions have forced us into. This is a space for us to come out as victors rather than victims, make some positive steps toward meaningful change,” he said.
He doesn’t feel there’s a single cause or solution.
“It’s a toxic mix of lack of adequately equipped community supports dealing with mental health and addictions. It’s due in part to racism and ongoing colonialism, lack of equitable opportunity for adequate health care and decent affordable housing, education and employment,” Partridge said.
He added this speaks to “the strong feelings of hopelessness and isolation and many of the residents are needing this meeting and contact with people who are directly accountable for our communities so that they can start to see a possibility of a way out of this crisis that we’re in.”
He said he hopes people will see the kindness of Pleasant Hill residents, noting offers of support and assistance for the meeting have been made.
City police are preparing an “impact report” to present at the meeting, looking at the effect of their recent move to shift uniformed officers and members of the guns and gangs unit to the area around St. Paul’s Hospital.
Police made several arrests after Enwaya’s death, in connection with incidents both before and after it happened. Police Chief Troy Cooper said some of the arrests are connected to violence in the area, and police believe the arrests may disrupt crime there.
The report will try to gauge the number of calls for service before and after police increased their presence in the area.
Last week, Cooper said the recent spike in violent incidents has involved a “core group” of people connected to drug use, addictions and gangs, and officers have been able to focus on some of the “more active people” in the area.
Police resources are divided between areas of the community based on victimization rates, and more staff have been sent to the area to increase the visible presence of police, he said.
Trying to attribute the recent spate of violence to one specific cause would be short-sighted, Cooper said.
“In the short term, I think the solution is some suppression efforts — so that’s visible presence, and we know people who have been active there are generally involved or connected to gangs. But I think the long-term goal has to be to address things like drug addiction, poverty, education levels, the things that contribute to people joining gangs.”
Police have been working with the hospital’s security team, the Okihtcitawak Patrol and community groups that can provide information, he said.
“We’re not just coming into the area, sitting in our cars and doing our job in isolation. We’re listening to the community, too, to find out exactly what it is their concerns are.”
The hospital’s security staff exchange information with police, and police are part of a group that meets regularly, St. Paul’s Hospital executive director Karen Barber said, noting the hospital maintains a security presence at all times.
The hospital has also made changes to its grounds in response to a crime prevention through environmental design survey conducted last spring. The main recommendation, implemented last fall, was to remove the rotunda to improve lines of sight.
Barber said the hospital is looking at further redesign with safety in mind. It has also increased lighting, removed some trees and installed “state of the art” security camera technology, Barber said.
She suggests people avoid walking alone, refrain from texting while they walk, and always be aware of their surroundings. If someone feels unsafe, they shouldn’t leave their car — the hospital provides a safe walk and safe ride program through its security services, which can be requested through the hospital’s switchboard. People can also stop by the emergency department before parking to make an in-person request.
Meanwhile, Cooper said the movement of more police into the area will continue over the next week or so, as will investigations into activities in the area.
“(We’re) being really open with the community about what’s happening there, so they’re aware of it. That includes the offending that’s occurring, but it also includes the arrests and some of the operational incidents that have occurred there as well,” Cooper said.
“I think communication is really critical at this time so that people know what to expect from police in the area.”
The long-term goal has to be to address things like ... addiction, poverty, education levels, the things that contribute to people joining gangs.