Downtown Charlottetown business group worried about lack of summer police presence

A group representing downtown Charlottetown businesses is asking the city to put more police officers on the streets this summer to help people stay safe.

Charlottetown's population swells in the summer months, with about one million visitors heading to P.E.I.'s capital city.

"We expect to use the same resources that we have for the rest of the year for policing, for security, to keep the streets safe," said Dawn Alan, executive director of Downtown Charlottetown Inc.

"This summer it is our hope that there is more visible police presence or visible security on the street to keep everyone happy and safe."

Charlottetown currently has 65 full-time police officers, including four new hires this year, said Brad MacConnell, the city's police chief.

But that is still 10 fewer officers than the regional average for a city force, he said.

"We're doing our best to meet community expectations and we know that there's a desire to see more policing, especially in our neighborhoods in our downtown," said MacConnell.

"We're working with our city and our province to try to meet those expectations."

Hiring challenges

The service is dealing with a number of challenges related to hiring, said MacConnell.

In the past, they have been able to police Charlottetown's rising summer population by hiring part-time officers or recent graduates of the Atlantic Police Academy affiliated with Holland College's campus in Summerside.

Those brand-new officers are now getting full-time jobs elsewhere because of high demand at other police services across Canada, the program's leaders have said.

"We need to be able to maintain a consistent and proactive policing service all year round, not just in the summer. And we need enough officers to allow us to do that," MacConnell said.

Other cities in the Maritimes, such as Moncton and Fredericton, have tried to solve similar issues by hiring security guards to become community officers.

Fredericton, following Moncton's example, recently began a community safety services unit for its downtown and trail system as a pilot project.

The chair of Charlottetown's protective and emergency services standing committee, Kevin Ramsay, said he's not sure hiring those types of officers would work here.

"The way people are right now, if it's not a police officer, they're not going topay much attention," said Ramsay, who is also a city councillor.

Alan disagreed, noting that if extra police officers can't be hired, someone else could step in to fill a void.

"I do think there is a grand opportunity for a security officer, hopefully mandated or managed under our current police services, to walk the beat, so to speak, in the summer," said Alan.

Perception of safety

Alan and MacConnell both said that people need to feel safe in downtown Charlottetown.

"There are people that don't necessarily feel always safe on the street. It's perception, quite often," said Alan.

She praised Charlottetown's police officers and said they are engaged with people living and working in the city's downtown.

Downtown Charlottetown Inc. put in a request to the city for a dedicated downtown foot patrol this summer.

But Alan said she knows the resources aren't available, at least not at the municipal level.

"I think that our request for support is going to have to come next from the province," she said.