All benches have been removed from the downtown transfer station. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Security concerns

Councillors weigh in on removal of benches at main bus station

Mar 2, 2021 | 5:27 PM

The City of Prince Albert is looking at the cost of adding video surveillance to the downtown bus transfer station in a bid to increase security.

The directive from council to explore the option comes three weeks after the city removed all benches from the transit system’s central hub to prevent people from gathering there, following the second alleged assault of a driver at the location in a month.

At Monday night’s meeting, some councillors criticized the move as a “knee-jerk reaction” that punished riders, while others defended the decision as a necessary, albeit “not rock-solid,” solution to the location’s problems.

The city’s director of public works, Wes Hicks, told council the benches had to be removed due to a number of violent incidents at the station.

A meeting is planned between the city’s transit manager, bus drivers and police to discuss de-escalation techniques, Hicks said. The benches could be returned in the future, although there are no immediate plans.

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“Hopefully when the weather breaks in the spring there’s less people gathering at that location that aren’t riding the bus and hopefully we can put them [the benches] back in,” Hicks said.

In the meantime, Keri Sapsford, transit manager, reported the situation at the transfer station has improved since the seats were removed, according to feedback from drivers and riders. She said the city is also looking to meet with the Vulnerable People’s Working Group—a body that represents various social service agencies in the city—to find “a more holistic solution” to the problem.

The Prince Albert’s six bus routes meet and depart from the transfer station twice hourly. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

‘A knee jerk reaction’ and complaints from riders

Mayor Greg Dionne, however, wanted to see the city act with more urgency to return the benches.

He questioned why a security guard wasn’t first hired to monitor the area, and said he’d been fielding calls from pregnant women and seniors who want a place to sit down.

“They say ‘why are we all being punished for some other people’s bad behavior,’” Dionne told council.

Similarly, Coun. Tony Head called the decision to remove the benches “a knee-jerk reaction,” noting that many of the people congregating at the station were homeless and simply didn’t have anywhere else to go.

“They’re utilizing this for shelter and a place to spend the day because they’re kicked out of the only place they’ve got to stay,” Head said. “We need to deal with that issue versus, ‘let’s just take away the benches and the problem will go away,’ because it’s not.”

‘Thugs’ and safety concerns

His colleague, Coun. Don Cody disagreed.

“The people that are giving us the trouble are not homeless people. Homeless people are good people, they just don’t have a home,” he said. “It’s the thugs out there that shouldn’t be there in the first place. That’s our problem.”

While Cody supported exploring alternative options like hiring a security guard for the area, he said “the odd time” the city has to “make things happen” and referenced the controversial fence the city installed around the Margo Fournier Centre last year as another example where decisive action was needed.

Meanwhile, Coun. Blake Edwards said, based on the information he’d been given, removing the benches was “a good move.”

“The drivers, from what I understand, do feel safer, as do the passengers who are standing there,” he said.

“I agree it’s not a rock-solid solution, but it did help,” he added later in the discussion.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom