MEDICINE HAT, AB – There will be more police presence in the downtown core.
For the first time, Medicine Hat Police Service formed a new permanent uniformed Downtown Patrol Unit (DPU).
The unit will be year-round and start in mid-October.
The DPU will patrol an area including North Railway to 3rd Ave SE, River Road SE to SE Hill, with specific attention on the downtown core.
Inspector Brent Secondiak says in the past, officers have been on bike units, a high visibility response team, or patrols in the summertime.
The new three-person unit will enforce laws downtown and build relationships with residents and business owners.
Secondiak says they will also work with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s addictions crisis teams.
And will help treat some of the issues in the downtown, whether addictions or mental health.
Secondiak says there has been a lot of desire from the community and businesses to have more police presence downtown.
“But we felt there were huge gaps just doing it over the summer months so when it does start in October their first order of business will be starting to meet some of the business owners, engage with some of the social services in the downtown core, and problem-solve some of the locations like Veteran’s Park where we get complaints frequently. Really looking at making downtown safe and usable for everyone.”
Secondiak adds there have been a lot of public disorder issues in certain areas like parks and issues around the transit parkade.
The patrol unit will have a temporary office in the transit parkade. Secondiak says that will be the team’s home base and the city allowed them to have a temporary office there.
The DPU will have a mix of days, nights, and weekends.
