Vandals hitting downtown businesses

Two business owners on Main Street in Port aux Basques are speaking out about having their properties vandalized and customers harassed.

Wanda Thorne, owner of Wanda's Beauty Salon, said the area around and behind her building has been a hangout for the 30 years she has owned it.

She said the vandalism has gotten worse over the past two or three years.

Her vinyl siding was damaged, her power meter was torn off, three doorknobs were bent or broken and her phone line has been cut.

In other incidents, people have held the door shut while Mrs. Thorne's workers were in the building, trying to leave. She has come to work in the morning to find objects knocked off shelves from people banging on the walls from outside.

Mrs. Thorne said she has tried politely asking the people to leave and she has tried calling the police, but the groups return almost every night.

"There are times when there's 15 and 20 of them out there," she said.

Picking up empty beer bottles from her back step has become a Monday morning ritual for Mrs. Thorne. She said drug dealing is happening as well.

"This is why I feel the police should be more involved," she said.

Geraldine O'Brien, owner of Main Street Convenience, said the problem is getting out of hand. She has also seen drug dealing and other unsavory activities. She doesn't just blame the youth.

"They're not children. I'm going to tell you they're from age 5 to 50 hanging out there. There's a lot of activity going on - there's illegal stuff going on," she said.

Customers often tell her they are afraid to come to the store at night because of harassment.

"I had three sets of motion sensor lights on my store. I'm down to one light now. They've beat them off because they don't want the lights on," she said.

Mrs. O'Brien said she has seen parents dropping their kids off at the hangout. She also thinks parents are tipping their kids off whenever she or Mrs. Thorne call the police.

"The authorities will come, but the kids get a phone call from their parents saying they just heard a call on the scanners and the police are coming to Main Street Convenience," she said.

Mrs. Thorne said the police have been unable to do anything, and some of the youth she has confronted on her street told her as much when she threatened to call the police.

The issue came up at Port aux Basques regular town council meeting on Tuesday.

Mayor Brian Button said business owners like Mrs. Thorne have spent a lot of money fixing up their properties to look nice for the town and shouldn't be expected to repeatedly repair and replace because of petty vandalism.

The council asked Town Manager Melvin Keeping to touch base with the local RCMP on the matter.

Mayor Button said maybe the town should suggest the police conduct some foot patrols in the area as was done a few years ago.

Mrs. Thorne said police advised her to put up no loitering signs, which she has done, but it hasn't helped at all. Both Mrs. Thorne and Mrs. O'Brien are frustrated with the response from police.

"I feel they could do more - in this little town there's no need of this being as bad as it is," said Mrs. Thorne.

RCMP respond

Sergeant Cathy Whitehead of the Port aux Basques RCMP detachment said members to make patrols in their vehicles through the downtown area, but a call from the Codroy Valley or a coastal community can draw them away from the area.

"In all honesty, we can't be security guards for these buildings," she said. "We do try to be vigilant in that area because we know there are problems."

Sgt. Whitehead said it is not as simple as just arresting someone who is standing around. She said "no loitering" signs must first be in place at the businesses. Police must give at least one verbal warning to anyone who is loitering.

She said in the case of youth who are causing a disturbance, the Youth Criminal Justice Act requires police to use alternative measures to deal with the offender before a case can be taken to court.

Sgt. Whitehead said the police know the area is a hotspot for trouble, but they need citizens to report trouble when they see it.

"It's not that we're not doing anything. It's just that it's a problem that will need some community involvement," she said. "It's incumbent on the store owners and the public to call us as soon as they see something. We would love to catch these guys."

The problem of scanners leading to tip offs may soon be a thing of the past. Sgt. Whitehead said the Port aux Basques RCMP recently upgraded their radio equipment and the signal will not be available to scanners.

reporter@gulfnews.ca