Working on Solutions towards a Safer Downtown

Today we received some good news for the downtown. At our first Downtown Security Network (DSN) town hall of the year, we brought together members of the business community and the Honourable Andrew Swan, Minister of Justice, to engage in a dialogue about downtown safety and the great initiatives coming up.

With more people living, working and playing downtown, it just makes sense to have a visible police presence to increase the perceptions and the reality of safety in our city centre. This is something we have long advocated for.

Even as crime downtown continues to decrease, making up less than five per cent of all city crimes based on WPS Crimestats, working toward safety solutions remains a focus for the Downtown BIZ and should also be a priority of the community. Downtown safety issues are multifaceted and are perhaps better described as social issues: panhandling, intoxication and homelessness.

These issues were discussed at today's town hall and Andrew Swan took questions from the audience.

Swan applauded the work of the BIZ Outreach and Watch programs, in addition to the Change for the Better program that supports homeless employment programs and initiatives.

He also reinforced the Manitoba government's commitment of 50 dedicated police and 25 cadets downtown but a timeline for when this change would occur was not identified. The city, province and the WPS are in current negotiations with how this transition would pan out. WPS representative made note of a special announcement that will be made this week regarding the safety initiatives downtown.

Swan also applauded the work of the Downtown Security Network (DSN) and that this safety model has been looked upon by other Canadian cities. Now connecting about 300 downtown businesses, the Downtown Security Network (DSN) links business people and security teams in order to solve and prevent crimes. This year, over half of a dozen criminals were arrested by the WPS because of the information sharing which took place between our BIZ members under the DSN. Bimonthly meetings allow members to ask questions directly to police and hear about tips in preventing crimes.

A video clip of the town hall can be found here.