Sample of signs posted in north side neighbourhood

By Dori Modney and Photojournalist Brandyn Montgomery

Alleged rape victim and north side residents address criminal activity

Jul 30, 2019 | 6:48 PM

LETHBRIDGE — Residents of a north side neighbourhood have become proactive in their approach to dealing with a spate of crime in their area and they are encouraging others to do likewise.

Let’s be clear – this is Not vigilante behaviour.

Hand-made posters in bright colours are wrapped around trees and cover fences and holiday travel trailers in a particular neighbourhood, encouraging people to report crimes and letting potential criminals know that photos are being taken of any suspect activity.

There’s a very good reason for the residents banding together. They have endured thefts, drug activity and, around 10 p.m. on July 18, a woman walking a short distance through an alley along the 1900 blk. of 6 Ave. North was allegedly sexually assaulted. The victim spoke with LethbridgeNewsNOW videographer Brandyn Montgomery.

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There are many others concerned about the North side, including residents Melinda Hall and new mom, Kendall Caldwell, who also spoke with LethbridgeNewsNOW.

Matt Waters is a life-long resident of the city and lives in the north side neighbourhood. He admits they’ve always had some problems, but the situations have now escalated significantly, with lots of car prowlings and drug activity.

“People now come right through the yard, climbing on the deck, stealing things out of the yard – it’s getting much worse, and there’s people checking door handles everyday as people try to get into my house when the door’s locked – people trying to get into my garage, and I know that because I’ve put cameras up and I see it all the time.”

Waters is also frustrated by the fact that there is a lot of focus on the downtown core, with businesses losing business and people not feeling safe downtown. He says those issues have taken over public attention and you don’t hear a lot about residential areas being impacted.

“I’d like to know how many bikes are getting stolen downtown, how many home invasions happen downtown, how much property crime downtown and people getting their bottles stolen – I know it’s petty crime, but the cost is huge.”

Waters says he has spent several thousand dollars on video surveillance equipment and lighting but, the city continues to focus on negative activity in the downtown, at the expense of residential areas that are “getting hammered and it’s constant.”

The north side resident is concerned that a lot of downtown transients and those who take advantage of the Safe Consumption Site (SCS) are being pushed into northern neighborhoods.

Waters may not be far off he mark. When Police Chief Rob Davis proposed The Watch at a City Council meeting in September of 2018, he cautioned the committee that “if the issues in the downtown were resolved, they might simply move to neighboring communities.”

Waters says he hasn’t had any interaction with The Watch but wants to see something additional. “I think its a great program and a good thing for he community, but they need to be expand into the residential areas or, what would be even better, is more police officers.”

Unfortunately, the city’s current situation is not one that was expected, or touted, by officials. In August of 2017, as planning for the SCS was underway, Mayor Chris Spearman told LethbridgeNewsNOW in an interview that, “The research shows that these facilities don’t have a negative impact on the businesses around them, so we’re confident that the location is the correct one, and that this will be a success in the city.”

At that same time, Jill Manning, the Managing Director of ARCHES, spoke to LNN about the impending SCS and stated, “A facility like this helps to solve those issues (needle debris), because it provides a central location where that’s the specific purpose for that location. We know that petty crime does not go up.”

Those expectations have been proven inaccurate.

“Where does it end?, questioned Matt Waters, who then noted, “I would rather see my tax dollars go to more policing, rather than more resources for junkies. The Watch is great but, it’s toothless and they don’t have any power – the police are toothless too, they arrest people only to have judges let them out.

“That’s the biggest problem I see with this – the judicial system is failing us – letting repeat offenders and drug dealers out the next day.”

As far as treating addicts, Waters says that’s great and he’s all for treatment, “But right now, we have no treatment – we have no detox and we don’t have any kind of support for the community, other than, essentially, a shooting gallery for people to get high, safely!”