On the Hess Street Issues

With respect to the issues of policing the Hess street area, we posed the following questions to Police Chief Girt. Answering on his behalf is Superintendent Mason , who has been working on this issue:

1. Recently, you have cited the inordinate amount of policing thatis required in the Hess Village area and illustrated the point byciting that Hess Village generated 54% of the downtown calls from the period January 1 to September 20th.  You called for continued paid duty policing, albeit in revised numbers. We suspect that most Hamiltonians will recognize the need you are identifying as meritorious and worthy of consideration. Despite that, it continuesto be necessarily a reactive approach to what amounts to a challenging and significant problem.

We are wondering if the police, in partnership with otherstakeholders, has or will engage in tandem, in an alternate approach to the problem which may include meeting with thestakeholders and discussing best practices and preventative strategies to curb the offending conduct in the first instance. Has there been such discussions, or will there be? We envision a range of topics which may include tips from police on how to prevent escalating behavior to possible changes in policy regarding alcohol serving and consumption, (that latter of which obviously would have to come from other stakeholders and not the police.) 

2. Is there anything else you’d like Hamiltonians to know aboutthis issue?

Inspector Mason responded as follows:

Hamilton Police Service works closely with our partners to address best practices and look at preventative strategies to address issues within the community. Most recently, the City of Hamilton facilitated meetings with stakeholders within the Hess Village area to discuss challenges and solutions to ongoing issues. We continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders to proactively deal with a variety of circumstances and regularly liaise with other enforcement agencies such as the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, City of Hamilton By-Law, Hamilton Fire Department and Public Health to address concerns.

Media Release: City launches Citizen Dashboard in time for Fire Prevention Week

HAMILTON, ON – The first phase for the City of Hamilton Citizen Dashboard launched today at hamilton.ca/citizen-dashboard to provide citizens an opportunity to access information about City service performance and how these services help contribute to quality of life in our city. To showcase Hamilton Fire Department information, in line with Fire Prevention Week, the Hamilton Fire Department is the first municipal service sharing their performance and service information data.