Significant decrease in illegal activity at Medicine Hat Transit terminal

By taking proactive steps and increasing patrols, the city and Medicine Hat Police Service say the transit terminal is a much safer place than it was back in 2020.

Sgt. Brian Bohrn heads the MHPS downtown patrol unit and says they had to patrol the building and stairwells several times a day.

“Dealing with loitering, mischief, drug overdoses and those types of complaints. The stairwells offer reprieve from weather so people who are homeless or vulnerable will hang out there,” says Bohrn.

But things started to turn around in April 2022.

That’s when transit services hired security guards to work out of the terminal to conduct patrols and monitor the security cameras.

Gordon Dykstra, manager with transit services, says they have noticed a decrease in activity since they responded to the problem.

“We have security patrols regularly through this terminal all day including the stairwells which are monitored by video. Of course we have the police beat office that drivers have supervisor staff available to them as long as we have service in place,” says Dykstra.

CHAT News spoke with transit riders to see how safe they felt while accessing services downtown.

“I feel fine, like there’s lots of security around, there’s always police presence and nothing goes wrong down here really,” said a man exiting a bus.

“It’s a better bus system and its better safety and security and better care for the passengers. There is usually a police vehicle parked at the terminal during the day,” explained a man waiting for a bus.

A woman boarding a bus said “I think it depends on who may or may not be around. There are definitely a bunch of sketchy people, at least downtown.”

“Well I just noticed when I get off the bus I notice police vans the odd time around here too so I’ve never been bothered by anyone here,” mentioned a woman leaving the terminal building.

Bohrn says transit security is able to be proactive in dealing with illegal activities now rather than using a reactive approach three years ago.

“I think the atmosphere around the transit terminal is changing. There’s still some work to be done but it’s certainly a safer place since then it was in 2020 when we started the downtown patrol unit,” says Bohrn.

That means the downtown patrol unit can focus its resources on other areas of the city’s core.

by Brendan Miller

Significant decrease in illegal activity at Medicine Hat Transit terminal

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