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Workers at two downtown Hamilton businesses don’t feel safe, their employers say, and they’re calling for Hamilton police to have an officer patrol the area on a regular basis again.
“We’re not trying to criminalize anybody,” Denninger’s Foods CEO Mary Aduckiewicz said, “but there are a few people that are either with addictions or mental health issues that sometimes can get quite aggressive, and our staff are feeling it, our customers are feeling it.”
“That’s why we’re asking for more of a police presence.”
Aduckiewicz says the strip on King Street East where the grocery store has run for almost 70 years is seeing a turn for the worse.
Shoplifting, abusive language and aggressive and intimidating behaviour from some customers cause staff to feel unsafe, she said.
Aduckiewicz said she has noticed more officers in the area, which has helped. Last Thursday, Aduckiewicz and Troy Thompson, owner of G W Thompson Jeweller and Pawnbroker, asked, at a Hamilton police services board meeting, for a dedicated officer on patrol.
HPS previously had a downtown beat cop businesses could contact, but when that officer retired in 2015, he wasn’t replaced.
“A dedicated beat cop is somebody who becomes familiar with the area and gets to know the people,” Thompson said.
“It’s somebody we call if there’s an issue,” he said, “and somebody we get to know as opposed to just calling 911.”
Businesses concerned about “deteriorating downtown business core”
Aduckiewicz said the high number of people who are intoxicated or experiencing mental health crises in and around downtown businesses is leading to a “deteriorating downtown business core.”
“As businesses we live in the present. This is about the safety of our customers and our staff,” Aduckiewicz said at the board meeting.
Thompson said “I’m getting feedback from my customers that there’s not a desire for them to want to go and walk the strip. They come to my store and then they want to immediately leave.”
Female employees feel unsafe at work
Aduckiewicz said Denninger’s put out an anonymous survey asking their 40 employees — most of which are female, she said — about safety concerns. She said 31 employees took the survey.
She says results show 80 per cent of staff at Denninger’s King Street East location said the current state of downtown Hamilton made them feel unsafe at work.
73 per cent of staff said they do not feel safe leaving work after dark.
During the police board meeting, Ward 2 Coun. Cameron Kroetsch said, “Community safety, in terms of real safety and people actually being safe, isn’t the same as people feeling like they are being looked after in a safe way.”
He said increased police presence can put vulnerable people in the downtown core at an elevated risk.
Aduckiewicz said a few months ago she was accosted leaving work.
“When you’ve got somebody who’s 6 foot 4 and has got a hundred pounds on you and it’s getting dark, that is unsettling.”
Aduckiewicz said it’s her responsibility to ensure her staff feel safe at work.
Hamilton police chief Frank Bergen said he will speak further with the businesses to find a solution, but said budget constraints might make it difficult to reinstate a downtown beat cop.
“This isn’t about a philosophical approach to perception of safety,” Bergen said. “What I’m hearing is that these businesses want police.”
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