St. John's boosting security at parks over safety concerns, says mayor

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 1:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 26

Park visitors successful St. John's this summer might announcement further bodies successful uniform, arsenic the metropolis bolsters its information wrong fashionable nationalist greenish spaces.

Bannerman Park volition present have a patrol of private information hired by the city.

St. John's Mayor Danny Breen said the determination to bring successful backstage guards is simply a effect to calls from the assemblage astir safety.

"After speaking to residents and proceeding their concerns … we added further information determination to what we already had successful Bowring Park," Breen told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show.

"As with different parks successful the country … we're keeping an oculus connected everything and monitoring it to spot what further measures whitethorn person to beryllium taken."

Public information was precocious identified arsenic a apical contented successful respective caller surveys conducted by the city, including a caller feedback forum connected the yearly Water Street pedestrian mall.

Breen didn't accidental whether the metropolis was considering putting information successful different areas, adding it works intimately with the RNC.

St. John's isn't unsocial successful moving to code information concerns, the politician said, adding that radical mightiness person already noticed accrued information wrong backstage businesses.

"I deliberation there's conscionable a heightened interest for information successful the city. And I deliberation the metropolis parks and properties are nary antithetic than the backstage ones that you see," said Breen.

Downtown patrols

In April, immoderate members of council, including Breen, said they wanted RNC officers to patrol downtown owed to information concerns.

In response, RNC Deputy Chief Colin McNeil said ft patrols would not marque the downtown safer and would not beryllium a bully usage of constabulary resources.

Breen said private information volition besides beryllium contiguous astatine the pedestrian mall, which is opening this week.

"Our unit are monitoring conscionable to marque definite that the complement we person is moving and sufficient," helium said.

Angela Crockwell, enforcement manager of the St. John's-based younker enactment enactment Thrive, said she understands the public's concern astir transgression and the request to marque definite radical are safe, but worries the beingness of guards could person the unintended consequences of targeting susceptible people.

"We cognize that marginalized and susceptible populations often tin get targeted," said Crockwell.

"I would anticipation that those radical who are doing information person due grooming to marque definite that their policies and practices reflect, again, not targeting definite populations."

Crockwell wants to spot further enactment and investments successful programs that assistance the vulnerable, similar Thrive's outreach program.

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