Edmonton ‘healthy streets’ Chinatown safety hub shutting down

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Edmonton’s security hub in Chinatown is winding down but some local community leaders are hopeful the city, police, and social agencies will find a way to continue making sure businesses and neighbours feel safe.

The Healthy Streets Operations Centre (HSOC) at 98 Street and 107 Avenue will officially shut down at the end of this year, city officials confirmed with Postmedia. Edmonton city council in 2022 put $15.2 million toward the safety hub for a two-year pilot running to the end of this December. The operations centre includes teams of police officers, paramedics, city peace officers, firefighters, community safety liaisons, and Alberta sheriffs working together to tackle crime and disorder in Chinatown, Downtown and the Kingsway area.

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City council has taken no action to continue the pilot after top city officials supported closing it down. City funding included $10.3 million for Edmonton Police Service (EPS) and $4.9 million for municipal workers including peace officers. Peace officers are being sent elsewhere but some services will continue working in the same areas as before, including the community safety teams pairing EPS officers with paramedics from Alberta Health Services.

Sandy Pon, chairwoman of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative, was sad last month when she heard the operations centre is closing. She knew it was temporary, and a “Band Aid solution,” but hoped it would last longer. Having the co-ordinated group in Chinatown, with a visible police presence, firefighters and paramedics working out of a building nearby, she said, made local businesses and neighbours feel safe.

“It gave a level of confidence for the people. When you’re in an environment that’s very unstable, you need something that gives you hope,” Pon said Tuesday. “There’s someone you can talk to, or someone you can lean on, and so they’re kind of the go-between all of us here, and city council and the province, but they can only do so much.

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“Having the three teams, and with the social agencies all collaborating, it gives the people a sense of comfort. Even our homeless neighbours need to be protected.”

Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson said there was a discussion around EPS continuing the centre within its budget when council first discussed the issue. Ultimately, that did not happen. City staff reviewed the goals of the pilot and found a “mixed bag of outcomes,” Stevenson said.

A drop in ambulance calls because paramedics were onsite, and a reduction in violent crime severity in two of the three areas, were some successes. On the other hand, other types of non-violent crimes went up.

“There wasn’t a sufficient enough argument or a case to carry those resources forward, given some of the mixed results,” Stevenson said.

But she thinks it was needed at the time it was created.

“I think it was a really important opportunity to stabilize where things were. There were a lot of challenges in the neighbourhood — obviously, the horrific murders that happened. There was so much fear in the community and so much disruption that was happening. I think that HSOC really served to stabilize things.”

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Jennifer Flaman, deputy city manager for community services, sent council a memo on Aug. 1 about the centre winding down. The document was initially confidential but the city provided a copy to Postmedia on Tuesday.

In the memo, Flaman wrote there were “some positive impacts on health and community safety” in the zones covered by HSOC, including an opportunity to pilot a new approach. Relationships created there will build a foundation for co-ordinating efforts in the future, she wrote.

“However, given the current financial position of the city and the continued support and economic investment available in the community, administration supports the conclusion of this pilot project,” the memo states.

No funding was allocated to pay for the building itself so the city is also in the hole on the lease. The lease will expire when the pilot ends.

‘It helps people to calm down’

Edmonton Chinatown BIA’s acting chairman William Chen also wasn’t surprised when he heard the hub was shutting down. For him, it’s the loss of the dedicated community peace officers he will miss the most —  18 peace officers are being redeployed to other areas.

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Chen and other business owners got to know the local peace officers these last two years. They are visible, actively walking around the neighbourhood and interacting with and connecting with the people who live, work, and visit the area, he said.

“It’s always nice seeing the peace officers just walking around Chinatown. They come to my business a lot as well, and it’s nice to see a familiar face. It’s that community aspect,” he said. “Their presence, their visibility just helps out with social disorder. It helps people to calm down.”

Chen thinks the community safety liaisons and peace officers fill a role that, perhaps, the police are not equipped to deal with.

“Say for example you have someone who’s loitering in front of your business, to call the police would be a little bit too extreme, right? But that’s when the patrolling peace officers might be like, ‘Hey, you’re disturbing these guys. Let’s move along. Let’s try not to make a mess in front of their store.’”

At the same time, he understands the city is facing a financial crunch and believes the city, and all groups involved, are looking for solutions that are best for everyone.

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As well, public safety is a provincial responsibility, he pointed out. His group is awaiting a meeting with the province.

Some BIA members are anxious about the police leaving the hub. Others have been frustrated, feeling officers were not being as proactive around social disorder.

“When you see them out and about, it really, truly is helpful. Whether or not they actually do anything isn’t necessarily all that important. It’s just seeing them — the presence makes them feel secure.”

For now, the BIA is using grants from the city to hire private security who have been instructed to be compassionate as they interact with homeless individuals.

The BIA is also hoping to have social agencies bring in more community outreach workers to support vulnerable people in crisis.

‘We need to see those teams’

Pon would also like to see more crisis teams available in the area. Ultimately, it’s more housing — a diverse range of it including supportive housing  — is needed in Chinatown, she said.

As well, she wants to see a 24/7 storefront shop set up in Chinatown where people can walk in and speak with police officers, city peace officers and bylaw officers and get information on safety and crime prevention.

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“We need to see those teams,” she said. “It provides comfort and confidence and, if there’s something, they can call them right away.”

Brooke Hilborn, director of the city’s community standards peace officers, said the city is deeply committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all communities. While peace officers are being redeployed, many existing services including hot-spot deployment, community safety liaisons, and problem property initiatives will continue.

“The (healthy streets) pilot has been instrumental in shaping our approach to community safety. We are confident that these ongoing efforts will provide continuity of support for those who need it most, and we remain committed to adapting our approach to meet the needs of our communities with compassion and care,” she said in an email.

EPS spokesperson Cheryl Voordenhout said the EPS community safety teams that pair officers with paramedics, as well as the HELP team and other specialized police groups and patrol officers, will continue serving that area.

“The Healthy Streets Operations Centre showed the effectiveness of a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach in addressing community safety and wellness concerns, so this approach will continue in the future where there are issues identified by citizens or statistical data,” she wrote. “Efficiencies identified during the Healthy Streets Operations Centre are also helping EPS develop strategies to address similar issues throughout the city.”

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@laurby

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