City proposes 600-per-cent increase in downtown security patrols

City Council will be asked Monday to start the ball rolling on major changes related to downtown safety and security.

Tom Vair, the city's deputy chief administrative officer for community development and enterprise services, will pitch a plan for a significant increase in private security patrols between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Vair is expected to ask councillors to issue a request for proposals for private security estimated to cost between $84,000 and $109,000.

The Downtown Association has been paying about $18,000 a year for nightly patrols of Queen Street by a private security contractor who makes two or three sweeps of the core area.

But in recent months, concerns have arisen about whether the patrols are making a dent in Queenstown crime, or whether the money should be better spent on other things.

Vair will propose having the city take over responsibility for downtown safety for at least three months, after which the change will be evaluated to determine whether it's working.

On Wednesday night, he briefed the Downtown Association on the initiative, which was well-received.

The association's board agreed to provide $5,000 toward the annual cost of the beefed-up, city-subsidized patrols.

The city's planning to consult with security professionals and downtown stakeholders to determine the best patrol routes and whether foot patrols should be included.

Vair is also expected to talk Monday about a downtown ambassador program, estimated to cost around $105,000, that will deploy Canadian Mental Health Association peer-support safety workers downtown.

That program, modelled after similar programs launched in Guelph and North Bay, was originally intended to focus on ensuring a friendly welcome for downtown shoppers, but has been recently tweaked to have more of a safety emphasis including Nalaxone kits to temporarily reverse effects of opioid overdoses.

Monday's City Council meeting will be livestreamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.