While local stakeholders prepare to meet to discuss the issue of people loitering on Main Street and warmer weather has more people loitering in the great outdoors, public perception of Flin Flon is top of mind.
The issue of loitering was raised by chamber of commerce membership, as some business owners have complaints about the conduct of some frequent visitors. Business owners, of course, are aware of how perception may affect their bottom line.
The general population of Flin Flon seems to perceive that the city is unsafe, and fear crimes against their person. In a recent unscientific web poll conducted by The Reminder, 31 per cent of responders said they went out of their way to avoid areas that felt unsafe, 29 per cent took precautions when walking alone and 12 per cent said they felt unsafe in Flin Flon. This translates to a fear of other people.
Facebook makes an easy avenue for information (factual or otherwise) to spread quickly and reports of various alleged crimes instill fear or frustration in other community members, which has the potential to trickle down and land on people loitering if the alleged crimes take place in areas they frequent.
Sgt. Mark Svaren of the Flin Flon RCMP has said crime was down five per cent over the four year average in 2017. However, it seems people are strongly feeling the effects of the crimes that are committed (and allegedly committed), and the perception of the need to use caution when walking in areas that are typically spots people loiter is on the rise.
But what makes loitering an issue? Is it the simple presence of people hanging around Flin Flon’s main corridor? Is it their behaviour? Is it a preconceived notion of what those people are?
Public perception has heavily swayed local leaders in the recent past – the implementation of a youth curfew in Flin Flon in 2017 was essentially a way to appease local residents who felt youth were responsible for a perceived increase in crime in the area (which, again, in reality was down five per cent in the year the curfew was implemented). Perception has the potential to sway leaders in this situation, as well.
But what can actually be done to prevent loitering, and is it truly that big of an issue? It seems like one of those issues that needs the root cause addressed with compassion to be resolved. RCMP have been directed to increase foot patrols in the uptown area, which could mitigate poor or dangerous behaviour by anyone in the patrol area, but in terms of deterring people from loitering in any area, evicting people by any means from one spot would be a band aid solution that doesn’t address the larger issue.
It will be interesting to see what, if any, action comes out of the meeting between local business owners, the City of Flin Flon, RCMP and the chamber of commerce. Hopefully a solution that benefits all parties can be found.
