'People feel unsafe': Prince Albert business group hires private security to patrol city's downtown
The Prince Albert Downtown Business Improvement District (PADBID) is hiring a private security company to supply guards to patrol the city's downtown during regular shopping hours.
“The feedback that we've been receiving is that people feel unsafe coming to the downtown to shop,” said PADBID Executive Director Rhonda Trusty.
She says business owners have noticed an increase in vagrancy.
“We have an element of people that are loitering in doorways that at are approaching customers for money of cigarettes,” Trusty said.
After discussions with the board, PADBID hired two private security guards.
Prince Albert Security Services has been hired by PADBID to supply two security guards to interact with the public and help direct those in need to services. Participating businesses will also be able to call the security guards while on duty to report issues.
“We just want to create an element of safety and create a positive shopping experience for people so they can enjoy coming back to the downtown,” said Trusty.
The security guards start work on July 1. They will work during regular daytime business hours, from Tuesday to Saturday until the end of September.
PADBID, Prince Albert Police Service and Prince Albert Security Services are collaborating to establish the pilot project.
The group has asked the guards to count the number of interactions with people. PADBID plans to use the data to seek government funding for future security projects.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.