75% of Edmontonians don’t feel safe taking public transit: CityNews poll

While police data show violent crime in Edmonton’s transit centre is down, Edmontonians don’t see it that way, according to a new CityNews poll.

Seventy-five per cent of respondents to the poll, which was conducted by Maru Public Opinion for CityNews, said they were afraid of being a victim of violence on public transit.

“Especially in the evening,” said Edmonton senior John Turcotte, who rides transit every day. “It’s terrible – I shouldn’t say terrible – but you got to really be careful.”

READ MORE: Drugs, gang violence the top concerns in Edmonton: CityNews poll

Last week Edmonton police celebrated a 21 per cent drop in reported violent crime in the city’s transit centres – perhaps meaning perception is not matching reality.

But a former Edmonton police officer turned criminologist explains the force’s number doesn’t tell the whole story.

“Is reporting going down? Or is it the crime that’s going down?” wonders Dan Jones, the Chair of justice studies at NorQuest College. “Because eventually people stop reporting if they feel it’s just a perpetual cycle of violence, and then apathy kicks in, and people stop calling police. So is it truly down? That’s a really good question.”

CityNews put that exact question to Alberta’s minister of public safety, who says federal bail legislation is partly to blame.

“I’ve always said that perception is reality,” said Minister Mike Ellis. “If the perception from the public is that they’re unsafe, then they’re probably unsafe. I still go back to bill C-75. Bill C-75 makes it virtually impossible to hold anyone in pre-trial custody.”

The federal Liberals did backtrack part of their bail reforms late last year, but earlier this summer Canada’s premiers sent a letter to the federal justice minister demanding more.

And 88 per cent of respondents in Edmonton say there are far too many repeat violent offenders being offered bail.

“For the government to stop releasing sex offenders and pedophiles back out into the city,” Edmonton’s Isbella Doolittle told CityNews. “Because of how many young kids are taking transit and these creeps just being allowed to go on the street.”

When it comes specifically to transit, Minister Ellis pointed to provincial funding to put 50 Edmonton police officers in the city’s LRT stations.

One transit rider told CityNews seeing more officers in action would bring peace of mind.

“I just don’t think that driving around in a car is doing anything, like Chinatown,” they said. “The mayor said it’s wonderful, they’ve cleaned it up. My God, you go down there and it’s a catastrophe.”

Jones calls increased officer presence and bail reforms band-aid solutions, saying nothing will change permanently until causes of social disorder are addressed – like treatment for trauma and addiction and housing.

“I’ve been in the justice for around 30 years, this is the same conversation,” the former police officer said. “They put in bail reforms, they take out bail reforms, it’s not changing things. Again, band-aids over bullet holes. Let’s start addressing root causes.”

Last year, Edmonton adopted a new police funding formula meant to give more predictability to police budgets.

Those polled were split when it came to police funding. Forty-six per cent feel the police budget should remain the same, and law enforcement need to be more efficient and less wasteful. Forty-five per cent say funding should be increased because EPS is under-resourced.

The poll found a majority (70 per cent) felt Chief Dale McFee is doing a good job.

It also revealed drugs were the top crime concern in Edmonton, with gang violence close behind.