Mayor calls for more police patrols

Mayor Stephen Mandel would like to see more police officers walking the beat in downtown Edmonton following a pair of assaults within a matter of hours on Thursday.

"We need to do more," Mandel said Friday. "There's no question there's a problem, and it's a concern. I think our downtown is safe, but perception is reality, and we need to make sure that people feel safe and secure."

An area of immediate concern, the mayor said, is the entrance to the Stanley Milner Library, where a teenage girl was stabbed in the neck and upper arm on Thursday in a dispute over a cigarette. A woman, 24, was arrested shortly afterward and faces several charges.

A few hours later, a young man was stabbed between the doors of the 101st Street entrance of City Centre Mall. He was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

"You know, it seems more issues have happened at the library and, I don't know, we don't usually get reports on what's happening in the mall, but the library's where there's a lot of problems," Mandel said. "So, we need to make some changes."

To that end, the mayor said he's held meetings looking at how to ease the congestion in front of the library entrance.

Mandel said he would like to move the entrance to the south side of the building so it opens up on Centennial Square, but library officials contacted by CBC News on Friday said they were not aware of the mayor's idea.