Edmonton police told the city’s community and public services committee on Monday that there’s progress on improving safety in Chinatown, downtown and on transit, but there is a long way to go.
The presentation to the committee focused on three areas: a transit safety plan, Chinatown’s recovery and downtown vibrancy.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said the city is investing in social services, affordable housing and will continue to work with the province for support.
“These are very complex issues.”
“We had houseless numbers double over the last few years because of mental health and poverty,” Sohi said. “We have seen a rise in overdoses, we have seen a rise in toxic drugs in what they are taking and that causes issues and behaviour that is unpredictable.
“So these issues have compounded over the last few years so it’s going to take some time to tackle them.”
Transit safety
City administration said a wholistic approach is needed to address problematic behaviour on transit. Some actions have already been taken, including the increase of foot patrol programs, transit safety working groups and working on bystander awareness.
The city said it’s also working on perception of safety by ramping up cleaning efforts and removing graffiti.
“We all see it differently and have different tolerances of safety, so it’s very important that we look at that,” a city administrator said.
Edmonton police calls for service have significantly increased over the past nine years. In 2022, crime severity increased by 19 per cent on transit compared to 2021.
May 1 marked the first day EPS redepoloyed resources to Edmonton’s LRT to address the increase of violence crime transit riders face.
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Eighteen sworn positions from various units will make up two dedicated transit teams. These teams will be in addition to work already done by Health Streets Operations Centre, community policing branch beats and City of Edmonton transit peace officers.
Supt. Warren Driechel said Edmonton police are working with partners to address problems of crime, and there is a concern with violent crimes in these areas.
“We know that crime severity is increasing and we know what we hear from the public is a perception of safety issues in the downtown core and in transit,” Driechel said.
He said he thinks it’s important that “gains” are being made in improving perception and actually making in a difference in safety.
“We are redeploying (officers) onto the transit system, we are redeploying (officers) on to areas where we know there is crime.”
Driechel said there is a problem with resources and redeploying services mean programs are being cut elsewhere, but he stresses police visibility in these areas is key to reducing crime.
Police also received funding for implementing body cameras on transit officers, which will enhance transparency and accountability for police officers. During the presentation, police stressed the need to recruit to build out this plan.
Part of the focus is on joint deployment of police and Transit Police Officers.
“We need to be visible, the police need to be visible. We’ve seen in some of the areas where we are actively deploying, we are getting feedback from the community that there is an improved perception of safety.”
Chinatown recovery
The city said there is also focus on improving Chinatown safety. It has funded two grants for enhanced security to Chinatown and Area Business Association.
Efforts are being made on a street level with daily street cleaning, needle pick up, access to public washrooms and the window repair program.
One million dollars from the city to the Chinatown Recovery Fund has been fully allocated by stakeholders to improve security, have support programs and to also bring cultural festivals to the area.
With partners, the Health Streets Operation Centre has been activated to focus on crime prevention.
The city says in addition to the actions outlined, it is providing a space for listening and understanding for solutions that will work in the community.
Downtown vibrancy
The city said its investments are having positive impacts on downtown, and bringing more people to the core will help improve the perception of safety.
The city said it’s supporting private sector investment and projects related to public safety, which includes lighting and activations to the downtown vibrancy fund. The city said the Edmonton Economic Incentive Construction grant accelerated recovery by having shovel ready projects that created 4,000 jobs, 2300 new residential spaces and 78,000 square feet of commercial space.
Other funding went towards enhancing cleaning, beautification and infrastructure improvements.
The Edmonton police service said progress is being made on making downtown, Chinatown and transit safer but there is still work needed to be done and Edmontonians perception of safety in these areas has not improved.
Edmonton police said, while there has been progress, this is just the beginning. Driechel said they will be measuring success by looking if there is a reduction in crime severity and if there will be reduced calls in those areas.
Sohi said he hopes this sends a message to Edmontonians they are taking safety seriously.
“We are giving assurance to Edmontonians we have a plan in place, we are implementing a plan, we will seriously continually evaluate that plan.”