Over the last six months city transit in Edmonton descended into complete chaos and Mayor Amarjeet Sohi now says he's “listening” to the concerns of residents..“I want to be clear for Edmontonians who feel unsafe on transit: I am listening,” said Sohi..“I have read your messages and heard about your experiences while taking the bus and LRT, and each and every one of you deserves to feel confident in our transit system.”.The mayor's tweet was posted around 4 p.m. Tuesday, a few hours after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith added more cops to the streets in the province's two big cities..In both Edmonton and Calgary, criminal activity is on the rise. Between July 2022 and January 2023, Edmonton’s LRT and transit centres experienced an increase in violent criminal incidents of 75%. In Calgary, overall criminal occurrences at LRT stations increased 46% between 2021 and 2022..READ MORE: Ellis says 'enough is enough,' adds 100 cops to Alberta streets.Smith directed Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis to work with his cabinet colleagues to develop a plan to hire 100 more street-level police officers over the next 18 months to increase the visible law enforcement presence and tackle criminal activity in high-crime locations in Calgary and Edmonton..“Safety on public streets is never negotiable. We can address root causes like mental health and addiction at the same time, but we will not compromise on security for all Calgarians and Edmontonians,” Smith said..In addition to increasing the number of street-level police officers on city streets, the UCP government is also encouraging the City of Calgary and the City of Edmonton to transfer command and control of transit peace officers to the Calgary and Edmonton police services..The UCP government said the transfer would enable police to better lead a coordinated and strategic response to the increase in violent crime on public transit..“I’m proud a majority of the actions laid out in the downtown core and Transit System Safety Plan announced last June are now completed or in progress. We have been making steady progress, but we need to do more,” Sohi said..“I welcome the provincial investments announced today and hope to see them implemented as soon as possible, and on a permanent basis, to address our urgent needs.”.Twitter users were quick to call the mayor out on his post on social media..“You’re proud? The city is getting worse. Have you seen the state of the transit terminals? It is not just transit. People high passed out on sidewalks or bend over walking like zombies in all parts of the city,” one Twitter user said..“So hire more cops! Instead, you are spending $100 million on bike lanes no one uses. You are obtuse. You are no manager, you are incompetent. You just had two cops murdered on your watch. That is on you,” another person tweeted..“You are incompetent. Step down.”.The mayor then linked his blog to the tweet..“We appreciate the additional funding for more police officers. We also appreciate the additional funding for the Police and Crisis Response Team (PACT teams), pairing a mental health worker with a police officer,” Sohi said..“I’ve recently been joining on ride-a-longs with interdisciplinary teams and I am so impressed with the work they do. I agree that more resources across the system will help keep riders safer. It takes time to recruit and train new officers. We have programs in place to do this work, and we will get underway as soon as possible.”.Sohi said he appreciates the Government of Alberta is putting in new resources to keep LRT spaces clean..“We will begin work right away to increase the frequency of cleaning in transit centres and on LRT platforms. We hope to see these investments implemented as soon as possible, and on a permanent basis, to address our urgent needs,” said Sohi..Sohi said the UCP government spending will help stabilize the situation but the city needs to continue to work on long term solutions, which includes spending on root causes..“The supports being provided today are important, and they help bring together good people to keep our community safe. But let me be clear, even with this additional funding, there are still challenges that need to be dealt with,” Sohi said..“We will continue to work with our partners in the province on addressing long term sustainable solutions, such as supportive housing and wraparound services to deal with the mental health and substance use crises. This is something we will continue to advocate for.”
