The river valley – a generally quiet area in Lethbridge – has been getting a lot of attention these days from people getting frisky day and night.
Lethbridge Const. Ryan Darroch says people have been caught engaging in sexual activities at all hours.
“It’s one of the growing issues and we don’t want it to get fully out of hand,” Darroc said.
Calgary-based sex therapist Jodi Sirota isn’t surprised. She says it’s the season.
“That’s what happens to us in the springtime,” Sirota said. “When we start seeing other people not wearing as many clothes, we’re getting stimulated.”
But why not keep it behind closed doors?
Sirota says some people aren’t cut out for the bedroom.
“A variety of things would be enticing or would drive somebody to want to be sexual publicly,” she said. “Off the top, the first thing that comes to mind is excitement.”
Exciting or not, police say the river valley is no place to get intimate.
Warnings have been issued to those caught in the act and criminal charges are possible.
“For certain people, it could lead to jail time, a criminal record,” Darroch said. “Our goal is not to have this go that far.”
Darroch says police are attempting to educate before enforcing.
Police are also teaming up with the city to remove trees, brush and branches to make the space a less than attractive spot to engage in sexual activities.
“Between the washroom and the Elks compound, probably all that will be gone, and then some of these other areas it’ll be just sort of widen the pathways and make it more visible so you can see right through,” said Ron Carter, a foreman with the Lethbridge forestry department.
But Sirota doesn’t think that will work.
“They’re going to find a way to do it,” she said. “Whether there’s 50 trees or 27 trees, they’re going to do it.”
But police are trying to be one step ahead and will be patrolling other public spaces in the event of sexual activities moving elsewhere.