Council discusses report on back alley curfew

Coun. Blake Edwards opened his comments by congratulating the city’s police.

“There were no racial profiling complaints whatsoever,” Edwards said, as some of his colleagues who also support the bylaw feigned expressions of shock.

“We put the faith in our police department, and it’s been eight months and no complaints,” he said, adding that he hadn’t expected to receive any. “This is wonderful news.”

Edwards said that despite a media report that focused on the lack of tickets, enforcement was never what the bylaw was about in his opinion.

“We have a thousand bylaws and not at all of them are actively enforced all the time,” he said. “It’s just a tool that presents to our police and adds safety to our citizens.”

Coun. Dennis Ogrodnick also addressed concerns of racial profiling that have been raised by opponents of the bylaw.

In the spring, the passage of the bylaw was put on hold after Prince Albert Grand Council called for consultation related to fears its effects would be discriminatory.

“It’s not about carding, it’s not about targeting, it’s about getting crime down,” Ogrodnick said, explaining the bylaw gives residents peace of mind that when they phone the police about someone in a back alley at night, the police will have the power to stop that person.

“Right now, they can’t. We have a charter of rights that prevents the police from doing that,” he continued. “They can’t do random stops or anything, they have to believe that someone is breaking the law and that’s what this does, it gives police officers that right.”

Feedback from residents and ‘a false sense of security’

Acknowledging the bylaw was just “one small piece of the puzzle” when it comes to addressing property crime, Coun. Ted Zurakowski said he’d heard from residents who said the measure had improved their security.

Coun. Tony Head asked if there would be additional bylaw signage installed around the city, something at least one constituent who called him was interested in. He was told that would be possible, and the 25 signs put in place in the fall came in significantly under budget, costing only $5,000, instead of the initial estimated price of $20,000.

Meanwhile Coun. Charlene Miller questioned whether there had been additional patrols down back lanes as a result of the bylaw. Chief Jon Bergen told paNOW Friday there had not been.

“I just don’t think it’s effective because it gives a false sense of security to the residents thinking that there’s nobody down the back lanes,” Miller told paNOW Tuesday.

“We [the police] don’t go down back lanes unless somebody calls us, we already did that before this bylaw ever came in,” she said.

Mayor says bylaw ‘successful’

Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Greg Dionne said the bylaw had been “successful.” Like Edwards, he bemoaned the focus on tickets, insisting the bylaw was about “education” at this stage.

“The whole idea was to lessen traffic in the alleys and to give police the tool to say, ‘hey, you kids, you’re not supposed to be in the back alley, it’s against the bylaw,” Dionne said, adding he believed once people are made aware of the bylaw, most will comply.

He said he’s received lots of calls from residents who say traffic in their back alleys has decreased since the bylaw was passed.

“To me, you don’t just judge it [the bylaw] by tickets. You judge it by the general public,” he said. “And the general public has been very positive about it.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom

by Alison Sandstrom

Council discusses report on back alley curfew

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