'I'm fed up': Seniors living near Calgary detox shelter complain of harassment from its clients

Seniors living in Alex Walker Tower love totake strollsand sit on the benches outside their apartment building.

But there'sa tinge of fear whenthey venture outside especially after the sun sets.

Some residentssay patrons of Alpha House, anearby detox and shelter facility, often accost or harass them.

One was hit in the face so hard his glasses broke. Two residents said their cars have been broken into repeatedly. Another looked out his window and saw an intoxicated manbeating his head against the fence in theparking lot. Some older women said they don't feel safe walking the oneblock to pick up their medication.

The seniors at this facility say they want city councilinvolved to help reach a solution that keeps people safe and still allows people to get addictions treatment.A group of 20 huddled in the social room ofthe apartment building on Tuesday, waiting for a meeting withCoun. Jeromy Farkas.

Stanley Muirhas been attacked twice.

"I'm fed up and I want the city to do something about it," he said, adding he's offered to walk his neighbours to the store because they're"afraid to go out at night."

Not all the incidents can be attributed toAlpha House clients with certainty, but the seniors said they've seen many of theindividuals enter the facility.

"We have a process for addressing community concerns and take them very seriously,"Kathy Christiansen, the executive director of Alpha House, said in a statement.

She added their log books show no trace of complaints to the facility from Alex Walker Tower and the property managers there assured her "the individual concerns are not representative of the larger community living at this property."

The seniorssaid sometimes they don't report incidents because they're unsure of who to call or think they're being a nuisancefor law enforcement.

Muir said he took his concerns to Alpha House several months ago.

"They gave me their rhetoric in terms of their PR position, but nothing else in any of the things that I addressed in terms of security," he said.Alpha House said the executives of the housing company and the shelter are in regular contact.

Getting the city involved

"Oh, there he is," one woman exclaimed as their guest from city council arrived. The groupclamouredto tell him their stories. While he couldn't promise change in the short term, Farkashad one piece of advice for them.

"Make sure that you report everything. If you see something suspicious please let the police know because every single piece of information that's provided can help," he said.

"Safety and crime prevention are acommunity conversation. We'll have to work together, it's not just any one level of government or any one condo building or any one business. We all have to come to the table," Farkas said.

He added the bulk of calls to his office are about mental health or addiction related topics in his ward, especially since the economic downturn.

As part of the Calgary Police Commission, Farkas saidhe's become more aware of how drug trafficking, violence and addiction issues are all fuelled by high unemployment rates.

It's coupled with potential cuts to thecity's policingas thedearth of provincialfunding to municipalities trickles down tostreet level.

The seniors want to see more officers patrolling the neighbourhood on footbut it's unlikely to happen.

A hit to policing

The police service lost $13 million in funding from the province and has lost $12.5 million from the city since 2017.

Farkas says the path forwardwill include some tough conversations about the citybudgetbut also at the provincial level.

"When you take a look at police officers as social workers, it's a very expensive model. We can't police our way out of this situation," he said.

"We need to be more proactive and it means that no one level of government can put their hands up and say 'It's not my jurisdiction,'because at this point it's everybody's jurisdiction."

Alpha House is funded by a mixture oforganizations and levels of government.

The councillor didn't commit to any results, butpledged to followup with the seniors at another meeting that would include Alpha House, the city and the province.

Until things change, Muir says he'll continue offering his help to the more timid seniors in his building. But being a security guard for his neighbours takes its toll.

"[Safety] shouldn't be something that you privately have to contract out," he said, shaking his head.