Effective Efforts Ongoing to Fight Crime – Mayor Hobbs

THUNDER BAY – Mayor Keith Hobbs says, “We are getting there…”. The Mayor sat down with NetNewsLedger to share his thoughts on how the city is doing when it comes to tackling the issue of crime.

Hobbs stated, “Knock wood, we have not had a homicide this year, and as I have said many times, no one can stop a homicide, not a President, not a Prime Minister, a Mayor or a Police Officer”.

The Mayor says that many of the efforts of the Crime Prevention Council are having a positive impact, and pointed to the work going on in the Evergreen Neighbourhood, and the Windsor Community Action Group as well as the Guardian Angels as positive steps forward.

Additionally Hobbs says that work in the downtown Fort William Business District is starting to show a positive effect. The Mayor says that the area is cleaner and that overall crime is down in the area. The Mayor did comment that at times on social media people will blow an incident well out of what actually happened. He pointed to an incident where social media reports were of a downtown business owner who had allegedly been assaulted by four men. It turned out, the Mayor says that was quite inaccurate.

The issue of homelessness has been a major concern here in the City of Thunder Bay. Mayor Hobbs is in discussions with the Mayor of Medicine Hat Alberta where the city of 60,000 people are stating that they have ended homelessness. The Mayor is planning a meeting with the Mayor of the ‘Hat, but points out that compared to Alberta, that Ontario does not have the same kind of strategies in place to combat homelessness.

The Mayor says that there is a lot of work ongoing and there is a lot of opportunity for everyone to pitch in and help. Hobbs points to a very positive meeting with Nishnawbe-Aski Nation recently along with the Crime Prevention Council’s work that is helping set new and positive directions for the city.