Business owners say they are being hit hard by downtown crime
By Steffanie Costigan - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on July 28, 2023.
Herald photo by Ian Martens
Shirley McNally, owner of Unique Hair Design, stands behind a sign at her front door asking customers to knock to be let in to her downtown business.Street violence in Lethbridge is at its highest peak in years, says a city businessman.
And had Duane Gurr, president of London Road Market, known how bad it would get, he might have opened his business somewhere else.
“I’ve been here since 1973, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gurr says. “If I had known that we’d be dealing with this nonsense, never in a million years would I’ve gotten into business in Lethbridge.”
General manager David Gurr, also expressed concern about the ongoing issues with the increase of weapons and their concern with protecting their staff.
“We have to protect our staff from the issues that are coming in,” he says. “And the unfortunate part is when I’m warned by the police that the violence levels are increasing, that the weapons involved are increasing.”
Sgt. Ryan Darroch of the downtown policing unit, says the patrol division responds to calls based on priority, with violence taking priority.
“Our patrol division and our downtown policing units respond to calls for service throughout the city and are based on a priority basis of many different factors, one of those, more importantly being violence,” Darroch says.
Police also have to consider if an incident is actually taking place at the time, or if the subject has already gone.
Gurr estimates London Road Market loses between $60,000 and $100,000 worth of profit from theft every year, not including ongoing damages the business is experiencing. David hopes the City can do something about the problem, but he’s not holding his breath.
“We’re hoping our municipality jumps in. We’re hoping we’re hoping, but the actual follow-through seems to be a little tough.”
A local woman experiencing life on the streets and who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the homeless live with daily trauma, which results drug abuse.
“It’s just unfortunate that most of us go through some traumatizing thing that happened in our life,” she says.
“And the only way for us to hide it or use it as a crutch is by, you know, sad to say, by going towards drugs. Just giving up and not even wanting the responsibility, and we just sort to kind of get used to it.”
She says individuals experiencing homelessness want to be homeowners and renters; however, they don’t have enough of the needed supports to overcome their addictions, and most of them are doing the best they can.
“What they don’t understand is most of us are just trying to get our own place so that we can get our life back together.”
Darroch says police don’t have control over the outcome of the offender – that is left up to the Crown.
“Our rule is to respond to those events, deal with the offender and the victim and the witnesses, and then we put the file together and put it to your Crown prosecutor. When it comes to the resolution of that event, that’s not up to us, of course, the Crown, defense counsel judges, that’s where their role is.”
Shirley McNally, the owner of Unique Hair Design, says she believes the problems started when the supervised consumption sight opened.
“When we really got into the problem was when they put in the consumption site,” McNally says. “We had enough problems before, and most of us said, ‘no, don’t do it.’ They went ahead with it.”
McNally noted she has run her business in downtown for about 25 years, and the violence has risen in the past five years.
Gurr expressed his frustration and suggests the criminal code needs to be enforced.
“Enforce the Criminal Code – it’s there, and enforce the damn thing.”
David says he has been punched, had things thrown in his face, and his ribs were cracked during an attack. He says business owners have to focus on the ongoing violent challenges rather than on their business.
“If we’re having to put so much time and resource into the problems that are coming in, that greatly takes away from what we can do, and that’s results in less sales.”
Darroch says violent incidents take an emotional toll on officers, and it’s frustrating to go through all the work of arresting suspects, charging them, filling out reports, and doing everything else necessary to complete a case, only to have it thrown out.
“When you search someone criminally, there’s a significant amount of paperwork that goes with that, which is fine, that’s part of our job. (But)to put your time and effort into something and just to see it get withdrawn or someone not get much for consequences on the back end of it can be, for sure, frustrating.”
David said he wants to see the next generation of his family succeed, but he’s concerned about the impact of the ongoing violence.
“With the problems that we’re experiencing, I’m worried about passing that generation of problems down. That’s a real concern, and I want to see that next generation of butchers in my family flourish.”
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Two things, but but but, the crime index is lower. Yippee.
Second: https://edmontonsun.com/opinion/columnists/gunter-liberal-bail-reforms-directly-tied-to-soaring-violent-crime-rates
It may be time for downtown businesses to hire private security – with instructions to use reasonable force to deter crime and trespassers. Sadly, our police appear unable or unwilling to step up to the challenge.
This is not just part of the city getting bigger, this is a product of bad decisions, a lack of decision or avoidance. Catering to poor provincial policy (whether UCP or NDP) does not make Lethbridge a better or safer place.
The only reason you apply for and get Guns and Gangs money is because you now have them. Did they suddenly appear mysteriously or did they appear as a result of no policy on Drug Addicts?
I will let you decide. My suggestions, and advice, is met with an eyeroll. Even though I have predicted everything that has occured and will occur and seen this over and over again 30 times before!
Amusingly, Council was trying to provide the citizens of Lethbridge with a safe downtown park by suggesting fencing. The eyerollers were successful in making it a race and homeless issue. So they backed down.
So you will lose Galt Gardens, and anything in between it and 5th North when Council finishes catering to Provincial nonsense.
The Commons in Halifax is fenced, in fact most “Great Parks” are, that encouraged Horticulturists to plant various trees, flowers, and created a very peaceful and truly beautiful area downtown. It is a place that could be enjoyed by anyone that acted within the limits of social tolerances. Instead the City of Lethbridge let 40 eyerollers determine the direction of this city, once again. So 40 people have saddled you with the visions and serenity of needles, feces, vomit and intoxicated people, as the center piece of your downtown, for the next decade! Complacency of citizens costs big, and you are about to find out how big!
I know what Council was trying to do, they went about it the wrong way of course but nevertheless they were attempting to save the center piece, and I give them credit for that, it took guts to try, so much for that, all that will be remembered for is them being heartless! This is the product of creating secret meetings, making secret decisions in the hope that when it is sprung on Lethbridge and its too late, they will be forgiven for giving away the farm, as it were!
Perhaps its time some people become a little more involved instead of allowing 40 non-elected people to run your city? Just a thought!
What has Neudorf to say? Absolutely nothing, if Myashiro was in his place, what would he say? Absolutely Nothing! Oh and the downtown representative who wishes to be Premier one day, Phillips? Not a single word, nothing, nada!
The past City council and some of the new have let it happen attitude they do not have the fortitude to get rid of the problem. load the problem up and ship it back to the reserves , they now have the donated money to build facilities and take care of THEIR problem. last reported in local newspaper the blood’s have over $500 million in their bank account collect over a million in in yearly oil royalties that would say they are self sufficient and cutoff govt money. Load them up and ship them out.
It is the reserves that are shipping all their troublemakers into our cities, banishing them in many cases. They would call us racists if we shipped them back! The Bloods keep on shutting down their drug houses and shipping the inhabitants into Lethbridge!
Thank you business owners for speaking up!! Too many people stay silent on the issues and the rest of the city has no clue the reality of the issues on our streets and what businesses go through on a daily basis.
You cannot blame the police on the streets who are run ragged from start to finish on their shifts due to being understaffed, thanks to our last council who cut the budget by over $1 million during a crisis when it should have been increased!
If the public knew just how big a job, how tough a job it is for these men and woman who deal with issues on a daily basis that none of us would like to see, including threats, assaults and confirming fatal overdoses and a job that many of the people are clueless on just how thankless it can be, they would have a no problem pushing harder to get our police force brought up the national average . . . with some of the highest crime rates in the country, we cut the police budget??? Does that make ANY sense!!?
Our police need your support, even if you had to wait 4 hours, which means they are busy . . . thank them and show your appreciation for the tough job they have!
If you saw what they go through on each shift you would stand up for them and demand they get fully staffed ASAP!
Many times the whole city is covered by 8-10 police officers on patrol . . . a domestic violence call can take away 4-5 of those members and a robbery all of them! One member told me going to work is like drinking from a fire hose!
Businesses to have to start excpressing their concerns to the media, to the council, to the police commission and to their MLA! You don’t reduce a police budget during a crime crisis where we were number one on the Canadian Crime Index!
We have some positive policies coming into play and I see change coming, but you must speak out or they will think it is only the ones who have fought hard the last 7 years to prevent the city from becoming a Vancouver DTES, the “frequent flyers” complaining again.
Many of us have stepped down from the fight after 7 long years, which means new blood must step up to the plate to continue to fight for our city so we can have our parks, neighbourhoods and streets back!