Overnight security teams aim to bring order to Edmonton's downtown

For the past six months, a team of security guards and outreach workers has been patrolling Edmonton's downtown in a bid by area businesses to deal with safety concerns that have lingered since the pandemic. 

The year-long Night Patrol program, which costs the Downtown Business Association (DBA) about $400,000, is made up of security guards from Backwoods Security Services, a company owned by Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation on Treaty 6.

The guards are accompanied by peer support workers from Boyle Street's Hiregood. 

"There's a lot of garbage overflowing in the city overnight and we make sure that's all cleaned up," said Jean-Marc Figeat, Backwoods' business development manager.

The DBA isn't responsible for downtown safety but exceptional times call for exceptional measures, according to executive director Puneeta McBryan.

"Our mandate is to create vibrancy downtown," she said, "so to have so much time and energy on safety — an area that we really don't have any control over — has been really challenging."

There was an expectation that things in the downtown core would improve once pandemic-related safety measures ended and downtown workers returned to their offices.

But that hasn't happened, she said.  

"It's really, really painful." 

Graffiti, dumpster fires, attempted break-ins

Night Patrol is an effort to improve nighttime safety and security for businesses. Teams patrol the streets from 12:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., seven days a week, collecting, tracking and analyzing incident data. 

They conduct physical and visual checks to prevent break-ins, property damage and vandalism. They also will connect vulnerable citizens with community resources. 

Since January, Figeat said his teams have reported 47 counts of vandalism or graffiti, 10 dumpster fires, 82 cases of trespassing and five weapons-based assault incidents. The guards have also interrupted two break-in attempts, and provided 61 people with wellness and medical checks. 

Figeat said the team is focused on conversational de-escalation. The guards carry naloxone kits to be able to intervene in a potential overdose, but they aren't armed and do not conduct  arrests. 

Instead, they'll alert police when a situation warrants their intervention.

"The security guard is there to handle things that may be a crime, and the Hiregood individuals are there to deal with the vulnerable," Figeat told CBC's Edmonton AM. 

Jodi Phelan, Hiregood's general manager, hopes the program will help vulnerable citizens see security as a good thing. 

"It's more of a positive experience for everyone involved," she said. "Hiregood is known to neutralize spaces. We can make them safe."

McBryan said the Night Patrol funding came from the city out of its Downtown Vibrancy Fund. She's hopeful that funding can be continued into next year. 

"It's tricky for us to expand it, it's about all we can do," she said. 

"My hope is that the situation improves and we don't have to do this anymore."