The Town of Battleford plans to increase lighting in the Battle Springs area in an effort to reduce property crime. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Community safety

Town to install lights to help deal with Battle Springs crime concerns

Dec 30, 2019 | 4:27 PM

The Town of Battleford hopes to address Battle Springs residents concerns about property crime in their neighbourhood by shedding some light on the situation.

“There will be some light standards added into the area to try and create some more lighting,” Mayor Ames Leslie said. “Council is open to having some discussions on what steps need to be taken.”

The lights will be installed this spring, and are already earmarked in the town’s 2020 budget.

The mayor thanks the people in the Battle Springs area for making efforts to secure their own property since the RCMP and the town “can only do so much.”

Several block residents on Battle Springs Way signed a letter asking for the town’s help to deal with an increase in property crime. They were concerned areas of their neighbourhood were very dark in the evening. As well, since the community is located close to Highway 4, it is an easy target for potential thieves and vandals to access while travelling near the area.

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Residents set up a neighbourhood watch program to alert one another of suspicious activity.

They asked the town to have the area along Battle Springs Way that backs onto the highway illuminated at night. They also suggested installing fencing off the access from the highway. This was the second letter the residents sent the town asking for assistance.

In addition to adding light standards, the town plans to leave the rink light on at night to deter potential thieves.

Leslie related there has been a focused effort by the RCMP and the crime prevention teams in the Battlefords to try and deal with some of the root causes of crime in the community.

“The crime prevention team is working very hard in the community to try and take away this criminal element within the Battlefords,” Leslie said. “It’s not perfect yet. But they are doing a really good job to reduce the amount of crime that is happening.”

He said while crime does occur in the area, if the town can do what it can to “make people feel safe in their own neighbourhoods, we’ll definitely have that discussion.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow