Saskatoon credit union closure prompts calls for more community policing
Community leaders are reacting to the announcement that the St. Mary's Affinity Credit Union will be closing down due to safety concerns.
After decades serving the Pleasant Hill community, the location on 20th Street West will be closed permanently on April 5, 2024.
“Over the past year and a half, our St. Mary's Advice Centre has encountered a series of incidents that have given rise to significant safety concerns and operational challenges,” CEO Mark Lane said in a letter to members.
Community leaders say crime has been a growing issue for years.
“Crime has been an issue in Pleasant Hill for years and years,” said Shane Partridge, community safety officer with the Pleasant Hill Community Association. “The last few years though it has built up and compounded.”
Partridge says people going to businesses don't feel safe on the streets, and that’s why they’ve been calling for alternative response officers from the city.
“Just for reasons like this — to be visible out in the community and to make a difference in prevention rather than always being an intervention service,” Partridge told CTV News.
Mayor Charlie Clark says he knows the community is in need of additional resources, especially the area around Prairie Harm Reduction and the hospital.
“I certainly realize very much that area is a big hotspot, between the hospital, Prairie Harm Reduction, and the activities around there and a lot of the services,” Clark said.
“A lot of the discussion around additional officers and additional alternate response officers is to help to address some of the issues that we’re seeing in those areas.”
Partridge says it's time the city stops talking and gets officers on the streets protecting residents.
“That [where] the discussion stops for one, and we actually get officers on the streets,” he said. “We’ve been discussing this for months and months and months, we’ve been advocating for years.”
Partridge said it’s disappointing to see a business that has supported the community for decades close.
“They’ve been such a staple and a hard working business in our community,” he said.
“From decades of sponsoring events, to sharing warm spaces with residents who might be walking past in a minus 30 day, and asking to duck in the bank for a second, to providing financial resources to the residents in an atmosphere where the people in the bank understand where they’re coming from. That’s what’s going to be missed in our community.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7029443.1725744633!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
Police release video of Toronto plaza shooting that killed university student
A university student from Brampton was killed when two shooters fired indiscriminately into a crowded plaza in Toronto last month in what police say was a 'cowardly act.'
'Hopeless and helpless': Regina mother seeks help to treat rare spinal disease
Mary Grace Rico is seeking help in getting treatment for a rare spinal condition.
The iPhone is getting a 'glow' up. What to expect from Apple's Monday event
Apple excited fans with its vision for its 'Apple Intelligence' artificial intelligence system earlier this year. Now, it's time for the company to prove it really works.
No more porta-potties at B.C. construction sites starting Oct. 1
What some B.C. construction workers describe as the worst aspect of their jobs will be coming to an end next month, the province announced.
Trump campaigns in Wisconsin just days ahead of debate with Harris
With just days to go before his first — and likely only — debate against U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, former U.S. president Donald Trump leaned into his familiar grievances about everything from his indictments to the border as he campaigned in one of the most deeply Republican swaths of battleground Wisconsin.
'Extremely vigorous' wildfire activity in central B.C. prompts crews to back off for safety
The wildfire fight in central B.C. intensified Friday, according to officials.
They were due to leave for their dream cruise in May. Three months on they’re still stuck at the departure port
It was the years-long cruise that was supposed to set sail, but saw its departure postponed… postponed… and postponed again.
Aryna Sabalenka beats Jessica Pegula to win the U.S. Open for her third Grand Slam title
Aryna Sabalenka got past Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in a rollicking U.S. Open women’s final Saturday to win her first championship at Flushing Meadows and third Grand Slam title of her career.