SASKATOON -- The Caswell Hill Community Association is asking for help from Saskatoon police and other organizations in helping to curb gang activity.

The association wrote a formal letter that included first-hand experiences from two young kids that live in the neighbourhood.

“There have been times where we have to stay away from the windows because of gang or police activity in the area,” said one of them in the letter. “I’m not allowed to walk alone.”

“A couple of men and a woman dressed in red approached my brother and friends, and demanded their bikes, using threats of violence,” the other one wrote.

In a statement to CTV News, Saskatoon Police Service said: “This was an issue that our Service was working to address before the letter. Members of our Guns & Gangs Unit have met and had a constructive conversation with the family to discuss their concerns and the ways that we are trying to address them. Some of these include an increase in our Patrol presence in the area, both in a uniform capacity as well as the Guns & Gangs Unit. There have also been recent arrests that we anticipate will have a positive impact on the neighbourhood.”

Roman Todos, the president of the Caswell Hill Community Association, said he grew up in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood and sees similarities in the current issues facing Caswell Hill: poverty and what he calls absentee landlords.

“It goes back to the people who own these houses,” said Todos. “Either they don’t care, or they just want the money, or they don’t care about the community.

“A lot of young families are here now because the prices are reasonable, but then you’ve got these odd houses.”

Todos suggests a long term solution would be to address poverty and realizes simply removing people responsible for gang activity from the neighbourhood is a short term solution.

“The problem gets moved over to someone else’s neighbourhood, which is not fair.”