Edmonton police chief explores safety solutions with building owners, managers

CBC

February 21, 2023 at 9:08 p.m.·2 min read

Edmonton police chief Dale McFee and Lisa Baroldi, CEO of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Edmonton, held a public discussion on concerns around safety and increased security costs. (Travis McEwan/CBC - image credit)

A group of Edmonton building owners and managers voiced public safety concerns to Edmonton's police chief Tuesday afternoon.

The talk was hosted by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Edmonton, and allowed impacted Edmontonians to hear from police about what is being done to tackle safety and social disorder concerns.

"The number one threat that has emerged to our industry since the pandemic is public safety," said BOMA CEO Lisa Baroldi at the open discussion at the Chateau Lacombe Hotel.

BOMA said building owners are incurring costs related to security, cleaning, and repair services.

Baroldi and Edmonton police chief Dale McFee discussed the increased security rates and outlined what EPS is doing to help remedy the concerns.

"I do believe in enforcement and holding people accountable. We get people walking around beating people up, swarming people, stabbing somebody. It's not OK. Those people need to be rehabilitated in the justice system," McFee said.

McFee also told attendees the social disorder, homelessness, and addictions issues in the city do not have one solution and rather need a combination of mental health and addictions support and legal consequences.

"Unfortunately some people are using fentanyl. You can see they're really extreme body positions, bent right over. They're not committing a crime, but they have an addiction problem. We need a place to take that person ... to actually give them some reprieve," McFee added.

For some attendees, extra boots on the ground and police visibility is what they said tended to be the most effective for preventing crime and disorder around their properties.

Between Oct. 1, 2021 and Oct. 31, 2022, police said they received 5,525 calls for service related to violent crime, property crime and social disorder.

At the beginning of February, Edmonton's Public Safety and Community Response Task Force announced a four-month pilot project to redeploy 12 sheriffs throughout the inner city.

Under the pilot project, the sheriffs would be working on the ground alongside police officers.

McFee also said businesses should consider expanding their CCTV coverage to help police investigate any crimes that occur.