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Greenspace said:
^You are correct. It is a trend with police service across North America where police don't want to deal with issues of social disorder, rather having Peace Officers or private security deal with that. Police want to solve murders and do more glamourous stuff. Being a beat cop Downtown has minimal appeal due to all the things you'd have to deal with.
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On this point, for all the hoopla we have heard about increasing policing and presence....I walk around downtown all day every day living downtown and I do not see beat cops. I do not see cops on bikes, I do not see them walking, I do not see them stopping off at the cafes or restaurants on 104th street to check in, and when I was at Pazzo Pazzo 3 weeks ago and the window was smashed during my dinner the owner said for every time he calls the cops they show up hours later or a day later.

I am not saying there are NONE patrolling just because I don't see them, but there is certainly a disconnect between what we are hearing (increased police numbers and presence) and what I have personally seen and experienced.
 
I heard from a friend seeing police chase a man with a knife down a street a few years ago. He was nimble on foot, they stayed in their squad car. Guess who got away easily?
 
CaptainBL said:
On this point, for all the hoopla we have heard about increasing policing and presence....I walk around downtown all day every day living downtown and I do not see beat cops. I do not see cops on bikes, I do not see them walking, I do not see them stopping off at the cafes or restaurants on 104th street to check in, and when I was at Pazzo Pazzo 3 weeks ago and the window was smashed during my dinner the owner said for every time he calls the cops they show up hours later or a day later.

I am not saying there are NONE patrolling just because I don't see them, but there is certainly a disconnect between what we are hearing (increased police numbers and presence) and what I have personally seen and experienced.
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From the outside looking in, it sure seems like EPS has really lost the plot within their organizational culture. They act like by policing problematic areas that they’re doing us a massive favour and we should be so incredibly grateful to them for it while appearing to do the absolute bare minimum. Their apparent lack of pride in policing and integrating themselves into neighbourhood communities shows well in posts like this highlighting how they don’t show presence in public, there is no regular outreach to businesses struggling with crime, and most of the time they prefer to sit in their cruisers and only get out when they absolutely have to.

At this point, there’s no doubt in my mind that being assigned to patrol downtown proper is likely considered a punishment among EPS officers, where those who screwed up or pissed off the wrong high up get stuck with it—when it should be that they assign their best and brightest officers to be working to restore a feeling of safety and civility out of a feeling of duty and pride to serve and protect our city.

And within saying all of this: I get it, being a cop is one hard ass job these days. Having your interactions filmed and posted out of context, having to deal with the worst of the worst constantly all shift, and the staggering increase in crime and social disorder within a short time frame is an extremely difficult task to manage. But there needs to be a new approach taken within EPS because their current one is frankly insulting to me as a citizen of Edmonton.
 
trevorhayden said:
The Edmonton ethos: overpaid and underworked.
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The World ethos, not Edmonton limited. As an example, the project I am on right now in BC - laborers are getting $49/hr - clearing $5,000/week to hold up a shovel all day. Foreman are receiving their $180,000 "work" truck for free when the project ends. 1,300 workers on site but only 50 or so are actually working.
 
trevorhayden said:
I heard from a friend seeing police chase a man with a knife down a street a few years ago. He was nimble on foot, they stayed in their squad car. Guess who got away easily?
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Wasn't a cop chase like on tv? Jumping garbage dumpsters to climb over the fences in the back alley?
 
Are there underlying issues we need to solve? Yes.

Does Vancouver have significantly more homeless people, drug users, and gang problems? Yes.

Stop making excuses and fix it Edmonton. There will always be a level of drug use, poverty, and homelessness. Make our critical infrastructure safe.

What do we need? The army?
 
thommyjo said:
Are there underlying issues we need to solve? Yes.

Does Vancouver have significantly more homeless people, drug users, and gang problems? Yes.

Stop making excuses and fix it Edmonton. There will always be a level of drug use, poverty, and homelessness. Make our critical infrastructure safe.

What do we need? The army?
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Yes actually. I’d make sure the shelter spaces and supports are available, then I’d go on an absolute blitz. You would have two choices, either you go to shelters with supports, or you go to jail. But you don’t get to have a drug filled party summer, and you don’t get to terrorize the other million people that live here. And if this causes some trauma, so be it. As of now, the collective trauma of all these victims of crime + the other million people who live here who can’t enjoy basic pleasures far outweighs.
 
tkoe_ said:
I get that people are upset and we have a right to feel safe in our own city, but what you are proposing is not possible. You cannot mandate someone enter a shelter or go to jail in a free and democratic society. What you are describing is Dickensian England where poverty is criminalized.

I don't imagine I will change any minds that believe the houseless population is living a "party summer", but at the very least the argument should be called out for its ridiculousness.
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Open drug use, open drug dealing, and every other crime that happens should have zero tolerance. I am talking about actually criminalizing people committing crimes, not poverty. You have to draw the line some where and remind people that there are consequences for their actions. When you give people free money and remove all expectations, this is what you get.
 
I think about the measures taken in the U. S.: Capital Punishment, War on Drugs and other initiatives. Cocaine gets replaced by crack and crystal meth. Capital punishment is disproportionate in its sentencing. A lot of criminal activity is intergenerational. Same with poverty. It's not a simple problem to solve.
 
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