Business owners in Centretown are calling on the city to take more action to reduce crime and improve services for the homeless following a pair of break-ins over the weekend.
Jessie Duffy’s Arlington Five café was targeted overnight Saturday after someone smashed the back window of the business. The Red Apron grocery store just 200 metres away was also broken into and robbed on the same night.
Duffy says public safety issues in the area have been growing and there needs to be more resources for people in the area dealing with mental health problems.
“I think we need a more collective approach to handling these challenges. We all want to see the folks who are vulnerable get the support that they need,” Duffy said.
“We’re kind of experiencing the fallout of having more people who are vulnerable, have more complex needs on the streets or out our front door and we’re not equipped for this.”
The Ottawa Police Service said Monday that a man in his 30s was charged with break-and-enter in connection with the break-ins.
Wilf & Ada’s, a diner next door to Arlington Five, says they also had a window smashed recently. Co-owner Scott Mosey agrees there are a lack of resources for people struggling with homelessness and mental health issues in the area.
“There’s definitely been an uptick of the homelessness situation here. People going through drug problems and when there’s an increase in that activity, then we also need to increase our resources,” Mosey said.
“Having access to more resources for the people that are in need I think is the number one problem that we’re facing right now. They just they need our help and they’re not getting access to it.”
Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster says she met with Arlington Five and Red Apron last week about ongoing security concerns in the neighborhood.
“We can’t just be chasing people from neighborhood to neighborhood. People also need places to go and they need more services available to them because we want to stop crime before it starts,” Troster said.
Troster says she’s been hearing that residents want to see more police presence but also want to see increased support from upper levels of government.
“I’ve been in contact with the Ottawa police through our community liaison officer. I’ve been in contact with all of our community service organizations. We know that we need to do more, but as a city, we really need help from the federal and the provincial government to tackle these issues because we can’t do it alone,” she said.
Business is back up and running as usual at Arlington Five. Duffy says the extra support from the community has been nice, with many dropping off cards and plants.
“It really is a testament to how awesome this community is. It’s a beautiful neighborhood with amazing people, and I think we just all want to see it thrive,” says Duffy.
