Gronk!
Senior Member
Non-criminal incidents on transit decreasing, ridership on the upswing: report
Non-criminal incidents are decreasing on transit while ridership has increased in Edmonton
edmontonjournal.com
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edmontonjournal.com
IanO
Superstar
^^maybe. EPS has been exceptionally lacklustre due to their inability to process folks, courts and cost of service delivery.
^Good to hear, but the general experience (2 times aside) have been terrible.
^Good to hear, but the general experience (2 times aside) have been terrible.
Barnaby
Senior Member
I want impenetrable fare gates, and extremely strict security in the underground portion of the LRT system. Normal people don't deserve to be around this.
My buddy (who lives downtown) and I almost got in an altercation at 102nd stop on Saturday with some skid on a bike for no reason on his part. He's lucky, because we're both very sick of it, and would have taken our anger out on him.
My buddy (who lives downtown) and I almost got in an altercation at 102nd stop on Saturday with some skid on a bike for no reason on his part. He's lucky, because we're both very sick of it, and would have taken our anger out on him.
thommyjo
Senior Member
At this point, how are armed guards at every station not a thing?
150k a year each, say you need 3 shifts a day per station, or 90 officers a day. 200 in the rotation enough then?
30mil. At this point, is the cost of cleaning, vandalism, healthcare, other security, etc not already crazy high?
You don’t even need to charge/process, etc. Just protect, intimidate, and keep out.
Same as encampments. I get it’s not a long term fix. But protect our most important areas.
Call in the freakin military and toss 2 soldiers at every station until we don’t see a violent attack for a year.
150k a year each, say you need 3 shifts a day per station, or 90 officers a day. 200 in the rotation enough then?
30mil. At this point, is the cost of cleaning, vandalism, healthcare, other security, etc not already crazy high?
You don’t even need to charge/process, etc. Just protect, intimidate, and keep out.
Same as encampments. I get it’s not a long term fix. But protect our most important areas.
Call in the freakin military and toss 2 soldiers at every station until we don’t see a violent attack for a year.
edm13
Active Member
This is what I’ve been saying too. European style, guard with a rifle at every station. It would solve the crime at transit stations instantly. I’d love to take my two year old on a train ride but I just can’t risk it.
IanO
Superstar
Armed guards are not going to do a whole bunch to move the needle.
Fare gates, EPS patrols, zero tolerance paired with a 'take ETS' promotional campaign to inject more normalized use, more eyes on the street and more overall use at all times of the day.
Fare gates, EPS patrols, zero tolerance paired with a 'take ETS' promotional campaign to inject more normalized use, more eyes on the street and more overall use at all times of the day.
edm13
Active Member
Why don’t we try it and find out? God knows everything else up to this point has failed. I was walking to breakfast last week. I walked along the new churchill station out side. Some one guy smoking crack inside our new connector and another guy smoking crack in one of the new out door shelter spaces. A guy with a rifle to move people along would work better than whatever the hell it is we are doing now
bodsbods9090
Senior Member
Yup. Same here. My two little boys want to go on a train ride but my wife and I have no desire to run into something while we do go.
Something needs to be done. Actual transit police needs to happen. Security guards can only do so much.
ChazYEG
Senior Member
If he's just a random security guard, he might not make much of an impact, but as he said, throw in actual police officers or the bloody military, and I BET these mother%$^ers would steer clear. Do that while you implement other stuff (like the fare gates, etc, and start GRADUALLY easing on that as just having regular patrols.
BASE
Active Member
A lot of the soft touches have been mostly unsuccessful so totally agree drastic changes are needed. Properly trained folks with riffles and the authority to move people along are a good option in this regard, also like the fare gates. As mentioned previously the court system is an issue and with this solution the problem potentially just gets moved elsewhere for the most part.
Greenspace
Senior Member
There was paid security at each Valley Line station when it opened. It helped prevent vandalism at the very least. Now they're gone, as I said before no new transit security was added when the line opened, just what had already previously been approved for the system overall previously.
erudyk_29
Active Member
I'm going to agree with the general sentiment here that police should be deployed at transit stations as a preventative measure. However, I do have some concerns. This isn't going to solve the problem of crime and disorder in general, it's just going to displace it. My guess is, if we did this and nothing else, we would see transit be relieved, but places like public parks will see an increase in this type of activity. I guess my key issue here is this addresses the symptom and not the issue itself, and may lead to other issues in other places.
As a side note: I got off at Central Station the other day and there were about 4 or 5 police officers and a peace officer on the platform. I wasn't exactly sure what they were doing, initially I thought they may have been arresting somebody, but I didn't see a suspect, or any sort of commotion happening. It didn't seem like they were looking for anyone either, they were just standing there. I concluded they were there patrolling, but I don't know for sure.
As a side note: I got off at Central Station the other day and there were about 4 or 5 police officers and a peace officer on the platform. I wasn't exactly sure what they were doing, initially I thought they may have been arresting somebody, but I didn't see a suspect, or any sort of commotion happening. It didn't seem like they were looking for anyone either, they were just standing there. I concluded they were there patrolling, but I don't know for sure.
David A
Senior Member
Yes, fare gates would go a long way to reduce problems. I suspect 99% of the troublemakers are not currently paying fares, but often that is the least of the problems they cause.
thommyjo
Senior Member
Displacement is worth it. LRT stations are more vulnerable than parks due to enclosed spaces, accessibility/access, less visibility in non peak times, risk of falling onto tracks/being pushed into.
Also, easier to avoid sketchy people in a park vs when you HAVE to catch the train. Platforms only so big to avoid problem people.
And tens of thousands of people are using the train. Super high density of risk/vulnerable people vs a few dozen that wonder down an alley or through a park in the quarters.
We want long term solutions for sure. But this is ROI and risk assessment. We have to get the LRT at minimum (buses are harder), to a point where almost no random assaults happen ever. They’re too frequent these days.
degrandprix
Active Member
I have noticed this as well. I don't use the LRT super often but the few times I've seen peace officers on platforms, they are often in groups of 4 or more. Surely we could achieve better coverage by having them patrol in pairs instead?
What's the best thing we can do to try and get some action here? I am frustrated hearing about this continuously (as I'm sure we all are) and have energy to send emails or something to city council/EPS/ETS whoever..
Edit: Wrote an email to my ward councillor, and also sent a message on the ETS feedback page. If anyone knows other points of contact (or voids we can yell into
) please let me know!
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