By paNOW

Evicting tenants can effectively reduce crime: Police Chief

Oct 16, 2017 | 6:00 PM

Prince Albert’s police chief sided with Mayor Greg Dionne when he said evicting the tenants from nuisance properties can be an effective way to reduce crime and clean up neighbourhoods.

Chief Troy Cooper said nuisance properties create a significant ongoing drain on police resources. While police and bylaw officers try to work with the owners and managers of problem properties to find effective ways to curb the issues, Cooper said moving people out often forces them to change their behavior and can be a good step towards improving public safety.

“If you have a problem tenant, and you move that tenant, it doesn’t just shift the problem,” Cooper said. “It actually reduces the likelihood that they’ll continue to be a problem.”

Evictions are an effective deterrent, Cooper said, because forcing people out of a nuisance property lets them know destructive behaviour will not be tolerated and often leads to change.

The issue of nuisance properties in Prince Albert was reignited at the latest city council meeting, when Mayor Greg Dionne introduced a motion intended to end the issues he said a particular building has been causing for downtown residents and businesses. Dionne did not mince words, and said he wants to see 925 Central Ave. demolished due to the crime and drug associated with the downtown residential building.

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Dionne said the Central Ave. apartment, commonly called the CB Building, has been the source of more than 200 police and bylaw calls so far this year. The mayor said the property has been a thorn in council’s side for years. Dionne compared it to the Minto Apartments, which were demolished in 2014 following a lengthy legal battle.

Cooper said he agrees with Dionne on the issue, as long as the property in question is directly contributing to crime.

“If that’s creating an environment that’s unsafe to the community, absolutely I agree that they should be moved,” Cooper said. “It actually changes behavior.”

The strongest voice on council against the building’s demolition has been Terra Lennox-Zepp, who said getting rid of 925 Central Ave. will do nothing to cut back the city’s crime rate. Lennox-Zepp said evicting the roughly 40 tenants of the building’s 15 suites would simply move the issues to other areas of the city without addressing them.

The Central Ave. property is owned by the Full Gospel Outreach Centre, a local church. Pastor Vern Temple told paNOW he is aware of the issues with gangs, drug-use and theft in the building, but said he is working actively to address the problems and regularly evicts individual tenants who are known to cause issues. Mass eviction and demolition, Temple said, are not the answer.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews