Moncton's St. George Street faces growing concerns about prostitution

Downtown residents and business owners metwith theCity of Moncton'spublic safety advisory committee and the Codiac RCMPWednesday evening to discuss concerns surrounding prostitution on St. George Street.

Parts of St.George have long been known to be home to sex-trade workers, but peoplehave been especially vocal about their concerns this past summer.

"This was a long hot summer and more people were on the streets," said Robert Gallant, coordinator of the city's public safety advisory committee. "I think it was just more visible and there's a lot more concern."

"I'm kind of puzzled by it," said Cory Richardson, who owns the Hanging Hugs shop on St. George street, and sees sex workers at all hours of the day.

"I don't want them here necessarily on my doorstep because it does have a bad image," he said.

Police received dozens of complaints over the past few months from residents noticing cars going up and down the streetand othersuspicious activity in the area.

"We are trying to have an increased presence on the street to deter people who are looking to buy services from prostitutes," said Sgt. Maurice Comeau.

A big part of RCMP's work has been informing people officers cannot directly intervenewith prostitutes. A 2014 Supreme Court ruling made prostitution legal, just not the buying of sex.

"What we do need to focus on are the johns who are really the predators. That's what will make the impact that we need," said Gallant.

Gallant said he will talk with residents about how they can identify and report clients to police.