A downtown Moncton property owner installed a four-foot chain-link fence around his apartment building last week as a buffer between drug users and his tenants. Peter LeBlanc told CTV News there are a lot of people buying, selling and using drugs on the sidewalk just in front of the 12-unit building at the corner of High and Park streets. The fence he installed at a cost of around $4,000 replaced one put up by the city around a year ago. “It seems like there’s more people hanging around than normal. Mind you the bylaws are coming and they’re moving them along. Also, the police, which is good for the neighbourhood,” said LeBlanc. That’s exactly what happened on Thursday. A member of the City of Moncton’s By-Law Enforcement team asked a handful of people to move along Thursday morning and after a little coercion, they did. “They’re around a lot more. They have it on their radar to come by quite a bit and they’re moving people along,” said LeBlanc. It’s a positive change, but LeBlanc believes more needs to be done to protect people living in the area. One of those people is Joanne Savoie who has lived in LeBlanc’s building for around two years. “I see a lot of homeless. I’ve seen a lot of overdoses. I’ve called the ambulance a few times for them,” said Savoie. Like LeBlanc, Savoie has noticed more law enforcement of late and she’s seen fewer incidents and less people coming on to the property. “I’m a smoker and I come out late at night sometimes, three, four o’clock in the morning and I’m not scared. They don’t bother me. I’m not scared coming out by myself,” said Savoie. Police blitz On Aug. 17, the Codiac Regional RCMP began a two-month strategic enforcement operation to address open-air drug use in the Greater Moncton area. A news release from the RCMP said dedicated police patrols will be conducted throughout the tri-community, but especially near downtown homeless shelters, including the High and Park streets area. The focus, to reduce criminal activity while improving the quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors. Codiac Regional RCMP Superintendent Benoit Jolette said they’ve been doing things like this sporadically over the past four years depending on resources. The goal of the two-month project, Jolette said, is to see what’s next and if the operation is having an impact. “How many arrests, detentions, seizures that we are making. If we’re seeing repeat users on the street,” said Jolette. Some arrests have been made and there have been some positive results, but Jolette said there’s a bigger picture at play because they’ve never really collected information before. “It’s a lot more dedicated specifically to the task and all the members that are out doing this operation at the end of each shift have to fill out a checklist, questionnaire of what was done and what was accomplished,” said Jolette. After the two-month period is completed, Jolette said they will be able to put together a report to see if the operation is something the police will continue to do or concentrate on other things. “Such as focusing on those that are dealing, trafficking and producing the substances,” said Jolette. Moncton homicide Jolette was also asked about the homicide that took place outside a homeless shelter on Aug. 27. “From the information that I have there was an association between the victim and the suspect. So, I would say that it would not be considered a random act of violence based on the information that I have,” said Jolette. Jolette believes the Greater Moncton area is a safe in place in general. “I believe the downtown of Moncton is safe, however residents or people visiting the area just have to be mindful that we are a big city. With a big city comes a lot of positive things but it also brings some challenges,” said Jolette. “The random act of violence in Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview is extremely rare. I can perhaps count just on one hand the random acts of violence that were committed on individuals in the last seven years since I’ve been at Codiac.” Safe place or not, LeBlanc would like to see fewer homeless people and less drug use outside his three-story building. He thinks that lowers property values and said he had a chance to sell the Park Street apartment last year, but a potential buyer walked away from a deal when he saw a drug deal taking place right outside the door. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
