Regina police start ticketing 'unwanted guests' downtown

Business owners in Regina say they're having problems with drunks, shoplifters and other "unwanted guests" who get kicked out and keep coming back.

• POLL:Should Regina crack down on "unwanted guests" downtown?

But the city police say they have a plan to deal with the issue and it was on the agenda at the Regina Board of Police Commissioners meeting Wednesday.

'There was frustration by both business owners and police officers in relation to dealing with unwanted guests.- Regina Police Service

In a report, Police Chief Troy Hagen said the service hasdealt with more than5,600 calls in the downtown area in the past two years aboutfights, intoxicated people, suspicious persons, people harassingcustomersand shoplifters.

"There was frustration by both business owners and police officers in relation to dealing with unwanted guests," the report said."There didn't seem to be a way to deal with repeat, problem persons in the downtown area."

At one point, the city hadlegislationcalled the Tag Day Bylawthat was used to deal with aggressive panhandlers. However, the bylaw was deemed unconstitutional and was repealed in 2009.

• Regina repeals anti-panhandling bylaw

For a few years after that, police used the "assault by trespass" section of the Criminal Code to deal with problem people in businesses, but the federal governmentrepealed that section in 2012.

Now, police say they are using provincial legislation, the Trespass to Property Act, to deal with unwanted guests.

That law lets police issue tickets if somebody has been banned from a store but keeps coming back. That's exactly what police have been doing in recent weeks.

Police say they're working with the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District to spread the word about the initiative.