Security company brings visible deterrent to area
By Kate Yule
Business owners between Bronson and Bell Streets on Gladstone have once again hired a private security company to “clean out the johns” in their area.
On Oct. 8, 19 business owners and landlords in the area made a deal with Response Safety Security and Investigation to keep an eye on their property.
The company will patrol buildings in a five-block radius, including Bell, Cambridge and Bronson streets and Gladstone Avenue.
The program involves foot and car patrols and community involvement. Residents in the area are encouraged to report problems or unusual events to Response security guards or to police.
According to Denis Condie, owner and security guard of Response Security, having a guard on the street to record johns’ license plate numbers for police has discouraged 90 per cent of the activity.
“We are a visible deterrent,” says Condie. “The johns think the neighborhood’s open, we’re telling them it’s closed.”
Condie says the guards discourage johns from picking up prostitutes in the area, so the prostitutes will move on and establish themselves in another area.
The guards, whose uniforms closely resemble those of the police, wear bullet-proof vests and carry a flashlight, pager, cellular phone and two-way radio. There is a guard on duty 24 hours a day.
Chrissie Kritikos, manager of Fairview Towers apartments on Bell Street North, says last year the program worked so well the community noticed a decrease of activity in the area in one week.
This time, Kritikos noticed a difference in a few days.
She says last year’s program also kept the prostitutes out of the area for 10 months after the company stopped patrolling the area.
“It was the first time in the history of the area that it was so quiet — we were flabbergasted,” says Kritikos.
Prostitutes became more visible after Labour Day this year. By the end of September, they were out during the day as well as the evenings.
Kritikos says the police were on the situation right away, referring to the police hooker-and-john sweep on Sept. 12, 13 and 15. Police arrested 60 people in the sweep. Many arrested in the sweep will go to “john school,” where they will learn the effects of prostitution from social workers and ex-prostitutes.
Condie emphasizes that his guards are not police officers. “We are an extra set of eyes and ears for the police,” he says. “We just stand guard and report.”
Ottawa-Carleton Police Sgt. Joe Simpson, who is involved in policing the area, calls the program a good example of the community and the police working together.
“(Response Security) provides a good service — as long as they stay within their limits and avoid confrontations.”
Kritikos says the community is aware the program may only be moving the prostitutes from one area to another, but insists that doing nothing about the problem is not the answer.
“The area gets such a raw deal,” she says. “On good days here, it’s just so nice. That’s what makes you go on.”