Sharing in the solution
Police, business owners call for more street-level patrols in downtown Charlottetown
Safety in downtown Charlottetown continues to worry the local business community, but business and property owners have a role to play.
That was part of the message at Downtown Charlottetown Inc.’s annual general meeting at the Rodd Hotel on Feb. 27.
Operations based in the business improvement area of Charlottetown were invited to the AGM to hear from Police Chief Brad Macconnell.
He spoke about the rising number of calls to police, with huge numbers of mental health calls taking centre stage.
At the end of the meeting, DCI president Steve Dunn said the chief’s presentation reflects the need for increasing police strength and technology.
While health and housing get a lot of the attention of politicians, the business community has a place in calling for more police, he said.
“Yes, we need to invest in health care; yes, we need to invest in housing. … We need more resources. The people in this room can advocate and support to ensure that we continue to have a great police service.”
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dawn Alan, executive director of DCI, suggested business owners downtown can help public safety by always reporting incidents of crime.
If property and business owners downtown don’t inform police about issues, they simply won’t know, she said in a Feb. 27 Saltwire interview.
One of the key points from Macconnell’s presentation was the desire for more uniformed foot patrol and police visibility. Alan and DCI also support this, and Alan suggested the city look to Fredericton, where Gardaworld security guards have been supporting local police.
Eight total guards are part of that city’s community safety services unit, which works with police but does not directly handle drugs or crime, according to a May 2023 CBC New Brunswick story.
Alan wants to see that in Charlottetown, she said.
“They carry tasers and they carry communications so they can contact police immediately if there’s something they can’t handle.”
During his presentation, Macconnell also outlined how the approach to handling drugs and homelessness has changed over the years.
Local police have been moving away from focusing on arrest and towards deescalation, he said.
He also noted addiction and its relationship to crime are not new to Charlottetown. In the early days of the opioid epidemic, Charlottetown was one of the worst cities in the region for property crime between 2009 and 2014, Macconnell said. But this dropped after the city opened its first methadone clinic in 2014, he said.
Given this, Saltwire asked Macconnell if Charlottetown police support the opening of an overdose prevention site, also called a supervised consumption site.
Yes, Macconnell said, if it is in the right location and follows best practices.
“I know it’s controversial in a lot of areas,” he said.
“And as a police chief I do support a harm reduction approach.”