Report recommends more peace officer presence at Edmonton transit stations

Emma Zhao · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 12, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A new report is recommending the metropolis summation bid serviceman beingness and replace information guards astatine immoderate bid stations, to code transit information issues. 

The study was commissioned by metropolis council, aft a question to present fare gates was struck down successful October.

The study recommends taking the $5 cardinal fund for security defender services contracted from Commissionaires and utilizing that wealth to alternatively prosecute caller bid officers for the transit system. 

If a question is passed, the metropolis would look astatine options to prosecute up to 30 caller transit bid officers, expanding from the existent 96 positions. 

The study identified Churchill, Central, Corona, Bay/Enterprise and Government Centre stations arsenic imaginable locations to sorb the further bid officers.

Perception of safety

Tim Cartmell, Ward pihêsiwin councillor, said the recommendations from the study tin beryllium highly adjuvant successful addressing ongoing information concerns raised by transit users.

"I deliberation what's important to enactment is that 40 per cent of Edmonton transit riders inactive study that they don't consciousness harmless utilizing the system," helium said. "Every measurement that we tin instrumentality that helps radical consciousness much comfy and much harmless utilizing this system, I deliberation is thing we person to truly consider."

WATCH | A lag successful cognition of information portion taking transit:

The survey recovered that astir 61 per cent of respondents felt harmless portion utilizing transit successful 2024. 

Peace officers who are trained to show behaviour connected nationalist transportation, is thing that could supply an improved cognition of safety, Cartmell said. 

"The perfect concern is that erstwhile radical spot disorderly behaviour, they spot those that are successful authorization responding to that disorderly behaviour," helium said. "When they respond, [they] bring the close effect to that behaviour."

Ward O-day'min Coun. Anne Stevenson echoes that sentiment. However, she said the contented isn't simply information presence. 

"What we spot successful our statistic is that existent transgression and upset is dropping, but the consciousness of information isn't truly budging," said Stevenson.

"The information that we're not seeing a akin summation successful cognition of information speaks to the information that determination whitethorn beryllium immoderate different elements missing."

She said the metropolis should besides look into improving the prime of LRT stations done amended cleaning practices and fostering much affirmative societal interactions.

Doesn't code information for marginalized groups: advocate

More bid officers won't mean safer transit spaces, according to Rachelle Gladue, co-founder of the Tawâw Outreach Collective, an Indigenous-led outreach and advocacy group.

For her, the recommendations don't code broader societal issues that impact information connected nationalist transportation.

"One happening that concerns maine the astir astir expanding transit bid officers is truly that it's not going to springiness the alteration that radical think," she said. "It gives the cognition of safety, but successful my opinion, not existent safety."

She said the accrued beingness of officers mightiness trim the beingness of marginalized radical successful transit spaces, which could consciousness safer for the wide public, but immoderate of those radical don't person immoderate different spot to go.

Instead, Gladue wants to spot much attraction enactment connected societal services that supply outreach and supports for marginalized groups. She points to enactment from the Community Outreach Transit Team.

"It doesn't code the roots of these issues. It's just, you know, we person deficiency of societal supports, deficiency of housing, deficiency of income supports for people," she said. 

"When we're conscionable shoo-ing those radical retired due to the fact that that's what happens erstwhile we summation instrumentality enforcement beingness there, we're conscionable displacing transgression and societal disorder."

The study volition spell to metropolis assembly connected Tuesday.