Cathy Dobson
A former city councillor who no longer feels safe in her own neighbourhood is calling on Sarnia to install street-view surveillance cameras and provide more police patrols near the downtown core.
Bev MacDougall says the area bordered by Christina, George, Russell and Durand streets is beleaguered by criminal activity around the clock.
“Our neighbourhood lives with this trouble and risk to personal property 24-7,” she told the Sarnia Police Services Board last week.
MacDougall was speaking for the Sarnia Heritage District Neighbourhood Watch program, which looks out for more than 160 households.
People struggling with addiction, mental health and poverty wander the area day and night, subjecting residents to drug-related crime, theft, trespass and property damage, MacDougall said.
Arson and murder have occurred as well.
“As a 43-year resident with long experience in downtown and community development, I am sad to say I am one of many who used to feel pride and confidence living in the city’s core, and no longer feel safe in my own neighborhood,” MacDougall said. “This is a sad commentary,”
Over the past 6.5 years police have been called to the area 8,739 times, she told the board.
“That’s an average of 112 calls a month.”
MacDougall said her group’s interaction with police is generally positive, but a “catch and release” justice system and the core’s proximity to services that help marginalized people keep residents on “high alert.”
It’s a serious problem that will result in an exodus of residents and businesses if nothing is done, she said.
After creating a Neighbourhood Watch and investing in their own surveillance cameras and security systems, residents are calling for additional cameras in public spaces and public right-of-ways in “hot-spot areas of concern,” she said.
“No one likes to be watched. We understand that. We’re not here to invade privacy, but…video surveillance is very much a part of our modern world.”
Rather than hire more police officers at greater cost, residents want an investment in street patrols, and possibly a volunteer auxiliary, she said.
Chris Burley, another Sarnia Heritage District resident, said criminal activity in the neighbourhood spills over to downtown businesses, the marina, Mitton Village and Centennial Park.
“I don’t think there’s a better area in the city to try a pilot project like this,” he said. “All of the conditions for trouble are right around us…we are in the crossroads of these people getting from one place to the next.”
Answering a question from Police Commissioner Shamel Hosni, MacDougall said crime has escalated. “We believe COVID and pressures on mental health have probably contributed,” she said.
The police board unanimously voted to refer the request to city and police administration, and also asked for comment on a potential auxiliary service.
Deputy Chief Owen Lockhart noted that bicycle patrols will resume across the city this spring.