THUNDER BAY — Despite an increase in police presence in the downtown cores, one long-time business owner on the city’s south side hasn’t noticed a difference in the area.
“I haven’t seen any police,” Doris Jorgensen, owner of the Little Mermaid on Victoria Avenue E. for the last 41 years, said.
The Thunder Bay Police Service launched Project Support on April 20 as a pilot project to increase the visibility of officers in the north and south cores as well as help connect people to social services.
It was announced last week, the project would be extended beyond its June 20 end date to at least Sept. 1 with the possibility of it becoming permanent.
According to a Thunder Bay Police Service Board release, the extension of Project Support is a result of feedback from community members and business owners who have raised concerns regarding safety incidents in the downtown core.
“We are pleased to progress, and support the move to extend this important work. The board believes the continuation of the initiative aligns with the needs and expectations of the community,” said the release.
For some businesses, like The Little Mermaid, the initiative has had little to no effect.
Jorgensen, who is planning to retire and closing the store later this month, said when she first came to Canada from Denmark in 1960, she felt safe walking around this city.
“As a young immigrant, I was very lonely and I walked downtown every day and this was paradise,” she said. “Fort William was a booming city and Victoria Avenue was so full of stores.”
She said there was no crime on the street back then.
“It was safe. It was peaceful,” she said.
She said it was about two years ago when she started locking the doors of The Little Mermaid, after three incidents that occurred in one day.
“They stole and they ran down the street and I ran after them and got my clothes back,” she said.
“The police warned me that it was very dangerous to do what I was doing, of course, but they didn’t realize that I could still run,” said the 87-year-old business owner.
She said she got the idea from another business operating in the neighbourhood to keep her business locked and let customers in by ringing a doorbell.
“To make customers feel safer, yes, we feel very safe in here because I’m in total control with this key,” she said, holding up a coiled bracelet on her wrist where she wears her key.
“Back in the ’60s you would see, there was always a big policeman standing over on that corner. So that (police) presence, yes, and in those days we had no crime.”
Jorgensen said she believes the shift happened in the last 10 years.
“In the old days there were so many people walking on the street that I had a hard time with the baby carriage because there was no room (on the sidewalk).”
Today, she said, “I’m always worried about the safety of my staff and my customers.”
The police service board confirmed in its release it has discussed extending the program beyond Sept. 1.
“The board believes the continuation of the initiative aligns with the needs and expectations of the community,” it said.
