Business owners say new officers may not be enough to address downtown issues

Business owners in downtown Regina have mixed reactions when it comes to Regina Police Service’s plan to deploy six new special constables, called alternate response officers.

The officers will work as a team with police, providing assistance when an armed officer is not needed. The alternative response officers will be deployed this fall, with the goal of freeing up other officers to respond to other calls for service.

Chad Boudreau, co-owner of Comic Readers, said since the COVID-19 pandemic he’s seen more people struggling in the downtown area.

“I’ve always been aware of people struggling downtown, but not to this degree, and not to this number,” he said.

The store, across from the Cornwall Centre, has been vandalized multiple times in the past few years. The store’s window was smashed when a person kicked it in, Boudreau said, and another time someone shattered it with a skateboard.

The glass door was also broken after someone fired a pellet metal at it with a slingshot, he said.

Boudreau said other incidents have affected the store, including a time bear spray was deployed on the street and wafted inside. He said the store had to be closed for the rest of the day.

While repairs can be costly, Boudreau said dealing with all those different situations is distressing as well.

“I’ve never, in all my years downtown, seen so many people lost downtown,” he said.

There have been multiple serious incidents at the Cornwall Centre over the past few months, including a woman crashing a stolen taxi into the mall and a clothes rack being set on fire in the Hudson’s Bay store, which later announced its pending closure.

Boudreau said the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District’s Regina Street Team has been helpful in situations when people are in crisis or need help.

He said he’s hopeful that the new alternate response officers can do the same, but he also wants to see long-term solutions.

“I would really like to see some big announcements from the province and the city about tackling these issues beyond ‘Oh, let’s have a study,'” Boudreau said.

He said he’d like to see more safe injection sites and affordable housing, and hopes the officers can connect people in need to different support services.

Deputy police chief Lorillee Davies previously said there would be lots of benefits to having these officers on the streets.

“(There will be) lots of connections with vulnerable people who maybe need that connection to service, so whether that be mental health, addictions, or something like income assistance housing, they can really be that bridge to connect people to those services,” Davies said.

Next door to Comic Readers, Sejal Tank said crime and issues are increasing day by day.

Tank, owner of Mischief Oatmeal and Cereal Cafe, was not optimistic that the new officers will help improve the situation downtown.

“Everybody knows about it,” she said. “The cops come every now and then, but nobody’s doing anything about it.”

Tank said she’s worried about leaving her employees alone at the store.

“It’s my responsibility as an employer,” she said.

Tank said she has seen people in crisis outside the store, having severe mental health episodes or screaming and crying on the ground. She said a person once pulled out a knife after the building’s janitor asked them to leave her store.

The downtown is becoming more and more silent as days go by with the issues unaddressed, Tank added.

The Regina Police Service has signed a two-year deal with the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety for the program. The province is chipping in $300,000, which will be matched by the police force.