Another downtown Edmonton safety outreach night patrol team hits the streets – Edmonton | Globalnews.ca
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Another partnership has been launched to address safety and security issues affecting Edmonton’s downtown core.
The Edmonton Downtown Business Association (DBA) officially launched Night Patrol Thursday, though the DBA said teams had been patrolling since January. The pilot is being funded by the City of Edmonton’s Downtown Vibrancy Fund, the DBA said.
Each team is made up of a security guard from Backwoods Security — a company owned by Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation — and a peer support worker from Hiregood.
Hiregood is run by Boyle Street Community Services (BSCS) and is a social enterprise that employs people who are experiencing homelessness or poverty and may have a hard time getting a job, according to BSCS.
Every day from 12:30 to 8:30 a.m., two teams patrol the streets of downtown Edmonton, working to prevent break-ins and vandalism, DBA said.
“We’ve heard from countless business owners, property managers, workers, visitors, and residents that overnight crime is taking a major toll,” said Puneeta McBryan, executive director of the DBA.
“All too often, it’s our small business owners who are repeatedly targeted and facing major financial and emotional burdens from vandalism and theft.”
The teams also work to connect vulnerable people to appropriate resources and de-escalate potentially dangerous situations, calling law enforcement when appropriate, DBA said.
“Night Patrol’s innovative and integrated approach of pairing a security professional with a peer-support worker is designed to protect property and improve public safety, while also addressing the multiple complex underlying social issues,” reads a news release from the DBA.
This is far from the first partnership between a social agency and a form of enforcement that targets Edmonton’s core. The Community Outreach Transit Team (COTT) is a city-run project where a transit peace officer is paired with an outreach worker from Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society.
The Human-Cented Engagement and Liaison Partnership (HELP) Unit with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is made up of a police officer and a social worker, in an effort to break the cycle of arrest, remand and release that many vulnerable people fall into, EPS said.
The Police and Crisis Response Team (PACT) is an initiative from EPS where mental health therapists patrol with police officers to refer people with mental health concerns.
McBryan said the association is launching this service to help improve nighttime safety by placing eyes and ears on the street while collecting data about crime and disorder.
“Public safety and crime prevention have never been part of the Edmonton DBA’s core mandate, but given the current circumstances, we felt that this was a necessary albeit exceptional initiative to design and implement,” said McBryan.
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