By Melissa Mancini
Employees of local businesses are split on whether a citizen’s anti-crime group would improve safety in Ottawa.
The Guardian Angels are an anti-crime patrol organization that is coming to Centretown in February. Members of the group receive training in self-defense, conflict resolution, CPR and first aid. They plan to patrol city streets from dusk to 4 a.m. because of vandalism, drug abuse and public drunkenness.
Marc Theriault owner of Maison Baguette Etc. on Bank Street, says he feels safe but some of his employees have expressed concern for their safety.
“Any extra presence on the street is good. As I understand it, their philosophy is to help people as well, so I support that,” he says. “My staff opens at 5 a.m. They have to go through the back to open up and one girl is really scared because she has seen drug deals happening while she was opening.”
Nikki McDonald works at Sugar Mountain on Elgin Street and occasionally has to work the weekend closing shift until 2 a.m. Most of the products they sell are small candy products, which can mean shoplifting problems.
She agrees with Theriault that a greater presence on the streets could be helpful.
“As long as they don’t cause any disturbances for police officers, it’s a good idea. We need more organizations that will do things like this,” she says. “It can get rowdy in here when people come in after the bars so it would be good to have someone else around who is more authoritative.”
In other areas of Centretown, some workers aren’t sure how useful the service would be.
“I feel pretty safe in this area because the restaurants around here are still open when we close,” says Jenny Burton, who works at Coco Beach, a tanning salon on Preston Street. “I have never seen any problems around here; I think it’s a nice neighbourhood. I generally recognize the people I pass on the street.”
Kevin Lee, who works at Laurier Optical on Somerset Street, says he doesn’t think the area he works in needs the service either. He says he doesn’t find there are a lot of problems around the store. Sometimes he will see people who have been drinking on the street, but he never notices any fighting.
Ellen Cobb-Friesen, who works at Calvina Gourmet Int’l on Laurier Avenue, says she questions how well the patrol would work.
“They mean well, but I wonder if they would be that effective,” says Cobb-Friesen. “I guess it is saying something for safety downtown if people who live here think they need to protect others.”
Jon Kerr says he thinks the area around where he works at Second Cup on Bank Street and Somerset Street needs improvement, but he questions whether this is the way to go about improving safety.
“The concept is strange I would think there would be a lot of objections to the idea of self-trained people policing the streets.”