‘I feel like they’re nowhere’: Medicine Hat police recently absent from downtown, businesses say

“I’ve seen them in back alleys, sitting in their cars, talking to each other when stuff’s going on down on the street. They’ve got to be more visible.”

When Rose calls the non-emergency line to contact the downtown police team, he is differed and often left on hold, he said.

For its part, the Medicine Hat Police Patrol Team said they cover a substantial part of downtown.

Constable Mitch Young said the area they patrol encompasses five square blocks, from Third Avenue to North Railway and from the South Saskatchewan River to Fifth Street.

Young said most of the work going on downtown is preventative and mainly in back alleys, which is why their presence is felt, but not always seen.

“It’s all going to come down to individual perception and that’s really all you can go off of,” Young said.

“There’s three of us and we are downtown four times a week. Hopefully that makes the people that potentially have that perception of it being unsafe helps them come down. We want people downtown. The businesses want people downtown.”

The police service did not directly address Rose’s complaint of unanswered calls in an interview.

Other businesses including the closing Moose and Squirrel and Poprocks Candy and Vinyl have said that the work the police is commendable and that they understand the shortage of resources, but that police presence is still needed.

Young said that any community member can call dispatch if they see an issue downtown.

The downtown patrol unit was launched in October 2020 to provide an increased presence in the city’s core.

by Adrian St.Onge

‘I feel like they’re nowhere’: Medicine Hat police recently absent from downtown, businesses say

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