The opening of London Police Service’s (LPS) upcoming foot patrol office has been pushed back to early March, a few months removed from when it was first set to open in fall 2022.
Police first announced a new office space for the service’s Community Foot Patrol Unit in August of last year.
The office would be located at 183 Dundas St. and police said at the time that it was conceived after “extensive consultation with area business owners” in downtown London, Ont.
While a specific opening date was not provided back in August, police said it was expected to open in late fall of 2022, with additional details being shared once finalized.
In an email to Global News last week, Const. Sandasha Bough, a media relations officer with the LPS, wrote “work is still underway” for the office, with it “currently anticipated to open in early March.”
“Media availability will be offered once the office is ready. We will send out a media advisory when that date has been confirmed,” Bough added.
When asked about the reason for the delay, Bough said, “construction and materials supply chain delays have caused the timeline to be extended.”
The upcoming office comes as the state of London’s downtown draws attention from decision-makers, as was seen in the latest municipal election.
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In his campaign platform, Mayor Josh Morgan referred to the state of downtown as one of the “stark challenges of our city.’
Mayoral candidate Khalil Ramal, the runner-up for council’s top job in the 2022 election, also focused part of his campaign on addressing issues facing the downtown.
Both Morgan and Ramal issued pledges that focused on redeveloping downtown, driving growth to the area and increasing the presence of police foot patrols.
Downtown merchants react
Brahm Wiseman is the owner of Heroes Comics, which sits just across the street from the upcoming foot patrol office.
While he emphasizes that “things are still good downtown,” Wiseman is hopeful the office may alleviate some issues that emerged in recent years.
“We really hadn’t been broken into and since the (COVID-19) pandemic, we’ve been broken into four times, a lot of businesses hit, a lot of smashed windows. I would hope that having the police across the street would be a bit of a deterrent to that,” Wiseman said.
The business owner adds that police can only do so much and that more is needed to solve issues related to homelessness, addictions and mental health.
“Police are going to be great to stop crimes, like break-ins and smashing windows, but they’re not going to necessarily get people off the street, nor should they, right? That takes away from them doing their jobs,” Wiseman said.
“The other issues, I guess as a city we need to come together and figure out other solutions.”
Harshith Haravavu works for Charminar Indian Cuisine, a restaurant on Dundas Street that’s less than a block away from where the office will be set up.
Like Wiseman, he thinks the office will help, but doesn’t believe it’s a solution for every problem.
“It will at least help people walking on the road feel safe … it should be at least better than what is at present,” Haravavu said
Jonathan Bancroft-Snell, who owns the Jonathan Bancroft-Snell Gallery on Dundas Street, agrees with Wiseman about the ongoing strength of downtown, despite recent attention drawn to some of its issues.
Bancroft-Snell says the successful implementation of the foot patrol office will require the officers who staff it to foster a sense of community.
“The most important thing is that police be seen on the street, communicating and interacting with the people on the street,” Bancroft-Snell said.
“Be it the merchants, the tourists, the residents or the people who are unfortunately unhoused.”
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