EDMONTON- Area residents filled the Alberta Avenue Community League on 118 Avenue Thursday night to talk to police about how they can help tackle crime in their neighbourhood.
The Edmonton Police Service hosted the forum together with the City of Edmonton’s Office of Citizen Services in an effort to empower area residents to help address crime in their community.
“If I don’t know that there’s a lot of crime happening in a certain area, then I can’t ask for resources,” Cst. Jeff Thomsen said.
Police said citizens can play a crucial role in fighting crime by reporting it when someone breaks the law.
Heather Workman lives in the Alberta Avenue area and said while she doesn’t want to move, she may have to if she doesn’t feel safer in her community going forward.
“It is the prostitution, it’s the drugs being sold,” she said. “These are people that don’t even live in the community and they’re participating in it (crime) and unfortunately, the people that are also buying, they’re coming from outside communities.”
For some Edmontonians, Alberta Avenue has always been associated with crime but some at Thursday’s meeting said they felt that stigma was not deserved.
But Grace Rolheiser has lived in the area for a decade and said she still has her concerns.
“I need to know that I can walk to places and that I can ride my bike to work and that my little girl can walk to school – but I need her to be safe doing it,” she said.
“I want them (residents) to be empowered, to be engaged,” Thomsen said. “I want them to be on board. I want them to want to be a partner with the Edmonton city police to prevent crime.”
Some residents said they are prepared to do the hard work of helping to make sure they keep their neighbourhood safe.
“The main thing is the people that live in our neighbourhood because we fight for it and we fight together for it and that’s what this is about today,” Rolheiser said.
Others in attendance included members of the City of Edmonton Safety Integration Team, City of Edmonton Avenue Revitalization Team, Crimestoppers and Neighbourhood Watch.
With files from Shallima Maharaj.