Dear Editor
I've been reading in the paper about some people having safety/security issues while walking in the downtown area of our fair city and it occurs to me that two words would solve all of the issues relating to the city centre - patrol officers.
I've lived in a few cities the police make themselves well known in the downtown cores. What a coincidence, the police station is on the very same street that's giving some of the community grief. If the RCMP would, once or twice a day, every day and unscheduled, do a patrol up one side of 101st Street and down the other side, introducing themselves to business owners and the general population, I guarantee the people who shouldn't be walking around downtown, wouldn't be.
This is not a harassment issue, it's a safety issue, and I'm pretty sure that's actually on the logo of the RCMP.
I'm concerned when I see a family with young kids being exposed to the negativity of some individuals.
North Battleford has the same issues as any other city - poverty, drugs, alcohol - but we have an opportunity to bite this in the ass before it gets really out of control. This city used to be visitor friendly and something has happened along the way. People have become scared to do what's necessary because there is no guarantee of support from the police. If you protect yourself and harm your attacker, you are the one who gets charged.
So, I call on the RCMP to stand up, do what's right. Show our citizens they will be safe on the streets of North Battleford and not intimated by a few individuals who have no respect.
I may be called racist but, this isn't a racial issue. Idiots come in all colours. I just want my nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, to be able to walk down the street without fear or intimidation, to be able to laugh without getting harassed or yelled at. To be able to experience going "downtown," the same way I did. Bubblegum and toys were on my mind as a kid, not disrespect or vulgar language.
Lloyd Cadrain
North Battleford
