A popular cultural and shopping destination in south Edmonton needs more to be done to improve public safety in the neighbourhood, according to an organization representing local businesses.
“The work we do as a Business Improvement Area is vital to support economic development in our community, but we are facing huge challenges with public safety that go well beyond what we, as a non-profit association, can do,” OSBA executive director Cherie Klassen said in a news release. The letter-writing campaign sees the OSBA encourage business owners in the area to write letters to the task force calling for improvements to be made.The organization said its letter-writing campaign will target the Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force, which was created in December to help tackle ongoing concerns regarding addiction, homelessness and public safety.
The OSBA said letters sent to the task force will call on more financial support for businesses facing financial burdens associated with crime and disorder, as well as what it calls “seven-day/week policing” and the implementation of an outreach street team “which would bridge the gap between businesses, marginalized populations and law enforcement.”