BANFF – The Town of Banff plans to look at ways to make the pedestrian bridge across the Bow River and surrounding area feel safer for residents following the sexual assault of a teenage girl there on Halloween night 2021.
While security cameras have not been entirely ruled out, council is pursuing what is known as a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design review of the Muskrat Street bridge and the new one under construction between Central Park and the recreation grounds to look at ways the areas could be made safer through design.
In addition, the Town of Banff will meet with Banff YWCA and RCMP to brainstorm potential sexual violence prevention programming options to bring to council’s 2023 service review and budget deliberations for consideration.
“There’s been a lot of conversations these past several months and I ask myself, ‘what is the problem that we are trying to solve?’ What I am hearing is it’s about trying to prevent sexual violence in our community,” said Mayor Corrie DiManno during council’s meeting on Monday (June 27).
“I believe that Banff is a very safe community, but of course, we are not immune to crime, so when I look at the issue, for me, it’s about supporting prevention programs and initiatives and trying to prevent the crime from happening in the first place.”
The call for dedicated crime surveillance cameras followed a high profile sexual assault on Halloween night Oct. 31, 2021.
One of six teenage girls walking near the pedestrian bridge was assaulted by a masked man in a Halloween costume. An RCMP investigation has not turned up any conclusive leads.
Mark Marino, a long-time Banff resident who is a relative of one of the girls who was there that night, is disappointed by council’s decision to not immediately install security cameras.
“The council meeting was a slap in the face for victims of sexual assault. It is unbelievable they want more studies. The victims have been silenced once again,” said Marino.
“I would encourage Banff residents to speak up for the safety of their children and residents alike. If something is not done soon, it’s just a matter of time till we are subjected to more attacks and that is totally unacceptable.”
During Monday’s meeting, Banff RCMP indicated support for cameras as a measure to address public safety, noting they had been successful in solving crimes using the municipality’s traffic cameras and private camera systems operated by businesses and individuals.
That said, while there may be some benefit to crime prevention due to signage or public knowledge of the cameras, the RCMP are not optimistic that cameras would be an effective deterrent to crime.
Staff Sergeant Mike Buxton-Carr, the detachment commander of Banff RCMP, said he would not say Banff has a real, pressing or substantial ongoing problem as defined by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s guidelines for setting up dedicated surveillance cameras.
“I don’t believe we have a significant issue where we, police officers, have looked at that and said, ‘what we really need to do now is put cameras up all around in these locations in town’,” he said. “However, we do frequently take advantage of the cameras that are there for that very purpose, to help gather evidence that keeps the town a little safer.”
Stan Andronyk, the Town of Banff’s manager of municipal enforcement who was a former RCMP officer in both Banff and Canmore, has training in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.
A report on the review is expected back to council at its Aug. 8 meeting.
“It is a concept of assessing all elements of an area or situation,” said Andronyk.
“You’re looking at design of an area to see how safety is impacted and what you could do to improve or change the way people see things.”
Councillors Hugh Pettigrew and Ted Christensen agreed with the move to look at more prevention programs, but pushed for a trial of security cameras at the pedestrian bridge and encouraged RCMP to do regular foot patrols in the area.
“There’s a lot of parents and a lot of dads out there quite concerned,” said Coun. Pettigrew.
“We don’t need another event or something similar to happen again.”
Councillor Grant Canning said installation of security cameras should be one of the last resorts based on the recommendations from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
“If you’re going to go down the road of video surveillance – it’s not because we think it’s the right thing to do – there has to be real empirical evidence to suggest that this is perhaps one of the last resorts,” he said.
Council received letters calling for dedicated surveillance cameras.
Malcolm Carmichael, a long-time resident who lives on the south side of town, said his three daughters, like so many local kids, have summer jobs in the service industry downtown and are often coming home after their shifts, in the dark, over the bridge.
He said lots of young folks are working in Banff for the summer from all over the world.
“I would like to feel that their moms and dads know that we as a community are doing absolutely everything to ensure their children’s safety as we would hope and expect if our kids were visiting and working in theirs,” he said in a letter to council.
“I’ve lived in Banff long enough – 44 years – to vividly remember more than a few incidents, minor to devastatingly tragic, that have happened after dark to young women and men in our town and its surroundings and I also know that there are undeniably an enormous number that have gone unreported.”
The ministry team at St. George-in-the Pines Anglican Church also wrote a letter in support of security cameras at the pedestrian bridge, pointing to concern over the assault of the teenager at Halloween.
The reverends Howard Thornton and Seth Enriquez wrote that the last thing needed is a repeat of an incident like that and feared the safety of residents and visitors are at risk.
“I know there is a lot of debate about the effectiveness of CCTV cameras? Are they a deterrent or not? Are they cost effective or not?” the letter stated.
“But the truth of the matter is if the RCMP had photographic evidence of this crime they might have been able to follow up and apprehend a suspect.”
Calgary, Edmonton and Airdrie have dedicated crime surveillance cameras, while Red Deer is looking to get them.
Many other municipalities have closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in buildings and facilities, such as in the recreation centre and Elevation Place in Canmore’s case.
“All respondents were consistent in suggesting cameras can be a good tool for investigating versus preventing,” said Silvio Adamo, the director of protective services for the Town of Banff.
