North Bay’s Downtown Improvement Area is crossing the T's and dotting the I's before moving forward with its plan to hire a security company to patrol the streets.
“We’re working with the city right now to handle all of the issues that surround that from a liability perspective because we are an arm of the city. So, we have to make sure that we’re doing this correctly and we’re not putting anybody at risk,” explained DIA chair Michelle Trudeau.
“Right now, we’re working with everybody across the board. We’re working with police, the City of North Bay, the city councillors who represent us, and the legal department at the city to make sure we do this the right way.”
The decision was made following a number of break-ins in the downtown, including one store that was hit three times in recent months.
See: Jewellery store owner frustrated with yet another break-in
Once everything is in place, security staff will quietly slip into their role in the downtown without any fanfare.
“We’ve talked to a few security firms. Our plan is to do an experiment for about a month. Our challenge right now is figuring out if we’re doing it on the right days for our organization. We know we’re doing it. We just don’t know exactly when we’re doing it,” said the DIA chair.
“Our security company, whoever we hire, will follow a protocol. If there is an issue, they will call the police.”
Trudeau is hopeful that having security will act as a deterrent to some of the crimes and issues people are having in the downtown.
“And I am hoping that our customers, who are of paramount importance to every retailer and professional business down here, including banks and lawyers and doctors, will feel a bit more secure about shopping down here because it really is safe,” said Trudeau.
“We’re not experiencing anything here in North Bay that the rest of the downtowns across the country aren’t experiencing. We’re all the same. Human rights are a very big issue. You can’t just tell somebody to go away because they make you feel uncomfortable. So, we’re hoping that if we help to instill a more secure feeling in our area, people will feel a bit more secure and not be bothered by what is happening.”
An initiative is also being worked on by a community group chaired by City Councillor Dave Mendicino to hire a mental health and addictions outreach worker to help de-escalate situations based on a project that has had success in Guelph.
“The other bonus aspect of what they’re doing in Guelph, is the contact with the retailers and the professionals in the city to teach them how to handle situations if they would like to learn, and give them a phone number that they can call if they’re trying to de-escalate a situation on their own,” said Trudeau who sees the value of having both security staff and an outreach worker on the streets.
“I think that both are very important. I think that they handle completely different issues in our downtown. But I think it is necessary to have the right professional to handle people that require help or aid, and I think that for people that are having thefts and broken windows and issues like that, we have a different professional in conjunction with the police.”
Trudeau complimented North Bay Police Chief Scott Tod for putting extra patrols in the downtown.
“Chief Tod has been wonderfully supportive of our initiatives."
Tod says having an additional presence in the downtown to report a crime or make people feel safer is a good idea.
“I think any additional opportunity to have eyes and ears in the downtown area and helping to protect our citizens and businesses in the downtown core is a valuable effort put forward by the DIA,” said Tod.
“We have been working with the DIA in regard to what other opportunities exist for the police service and the mental health services and addiction services within the downtown area to help support the people that are in crisis or in need downtown.”
Trudeau says there will be an important announcement concerning the downtown Monday morning.
