By Justine Kelsie

Group of residents took their concerns regarding crime to city hall

Aug 16, 2018 | 5:54 AM

People are voicing their concern about the crime they are noticing in the community.

A group of Grande Prairie citizens, echoing concerns from others on social media, presented at a city council meeting Monday evening. Their concern was to do with crime noticed in the area including bicycle thefts. The group of approximately ten people, including from the Mountview Neighbourhood Association, wanted to know how they could help the City or RCMP members combat this issue, only two presented to council.

“In my time on council, I can say that there is a bit of a cycle. Both in terms of the economy and the time of year. Council takes this matter very seriously and that is why we asked to have an update on trends to see if, on an objective basis, if there is anything significant and if so, what action is RCMP planning on taking,” said Mayor Bill Given.

Given says it is clear there are concerns around safety and property theft and encourages people to continue to reach out or join a Neighbourhood Association.

“I am always happy that people attend a council meeting and put forward a concern in a respectful manner,” he said.

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According to RCMP Superintendent Don McKenna, a spike in petty crime and vandalism has been noticed this summer, specifically in July. He attributes the increase in crime partly to the opioid crisis and homelessness.

“The homeless population has increased 80 per cent in the last two years. The vacancy rate is very low. A lot of people renting receiving an increase in rent by $200 to $300. There are also people living on the edge with an increase in rent that is the difference between a roof and no roof,” said McKenna.

McKenna explains that there have been some issues at the Parkside Inn and a focus has been put there, but there are some possible changes on the horizon for that building.

“There are some people getting some help there and other people taking advantage of them. When you get a concentration of people with substance abuse problems then that attracts minor criminality. We have been working on projects specifically on that one,” said McKenna.

There are talks of the building on 100 Avenue being leased to the Canadian Mental Health Association to be used as Permanent Supportive Housing. It would include a fence, security, and supports from places like HIV North Society on a 24-hour basis.

McKenna commends the many organizations that work to help people involved in these situations, drug addiction and homelessness. He says that is part of the way they will be combatting the crime issues.

“We are going to be working with our partners to get these people off the street, connecting them with social services, and housing. Even Rotary House is a temporary solution, it is not permanent housing,” said McKenna.

The Superintendent believes this isn’t the permanent state of the city and encourages people to continue to report crime.

“If someone comes and steals something out of your garage, call us. What happens is we take that information and put it into a computer. Monthly, our analysts go through it and we find the hotspots, the areas that experiencing any type of crime. We can send patrols that way and we can look at it as a global effort to stop it,” he said.