Intervene or just call police? Edmonton, premier offer differing advice on transit violence

City and provincial officials agree that rising violence, harassment and disorder on transit is a major problem in Alberta, but what citizens should do about it is not as clear.

On Tuesday, during a transit safety announcement, Premier Danielle Smith was asked about people defending themselves. She dismissed that idea outright.

"I don't think we want to be creating a situation where people are taking safety into their own hands," she said.

"These are dangerous, dangerous people that are on the streets and that are on transit. And so, our first option is putting officers on the street."

But on Wednesday, the City of Edmonton announced a new campaign to help bystanders "safely intervene" when they see "gender-based violence and harassment in transit spaces."

"We're not asking people, or expecting that they intervene," said Sarah Feldman with Edmonton Transit Service.

"I think what we're trying to do is recognize that people want to do this, and many already do do this, whether we say something about it or not. We're just equipping people with some of the options that they have if they want to."

The "One Strong Voice" campaign offers three tips for intervening directly: be direct, de-escalate and distract.

They include "call out what's happening," "ask if the person being harassed is okay" and "talking loudly" to distract the initiator.

There are also three elements of a less direct approach: delay, document and delegate. They include "wait until the situation is over" and calling 911 for help.

The campaign will include ads in transit centres, LRT stations, buses, and on social media and radio stations.

Feldman said this is just one element of making the system safer along with police and peace officers.

'SEEMS A LITTLE BIT OFF RIGHT NOW'

But a local criminologist and at least one city councillor worry some people won't read the "fine print" on the campaign or may misjudge how safe situations actually are.

"I worry that we're setting people up to fail. There are significant issues on transit right now," said Dan Jones from Norquest College.

"I just don't want it to seem that we're promoting vigilante stuff on transit. It just seems a little bit off right now."

Jones wore an Edmonton Police Service badge for 25 years, including assignments on the gang unit and as a homicide detective. He now has a masters in criminology and is pursuing a PhD.

He applauded the effort of the campaign but, given the severity of violence in the system, thinks now is not the right time.

"It's well intended. It's really based on the United Nations gender-based violence issue. And it's about speaking out about gender-based violence," Jones explained.

"My worry is it's going to get conflated with all the other issues on transit. Are we going to have people calling out people for open-air drug use? And then all of the sudden the issues that potentially come with that if someone has just used [drugs]?"

Coun. Tim Cartmell from Ward pihêsiwin has similar concerns about the "One Strong Voice" campaign.

"There's a potential that we might be confusing people with the start of this campaign in this current environment," he told CTV News Edmonton.

"If you see somebody being accosted, I don't think you're saying anything. I think you're calling the cops. That's what you're doing. At least that's what you should be doing."

He agrees transit violence and disorder are serious issues and wants the city to install turnstiles and fare-evasion barricades as a first step to making the system safer.

Cartmell also supports more police, peace officers and expanded day shelters so homeless and/or addicted people have a safe space to go.

Tuesday's provincial announcement included 100 more police officers for transit, $10 million to clean up property and $8 million to expand Police and Crisis Teams (PACT) in Alberta.

The province has already created task forces in Calgary and Edmonton to address violent crime in the cores and transit systems and deployed sheriffs to help police in inner-city areas.

Edmonton has also hired more staff dedicated to transit security, established more community safety teams, increased the police budget, approved a new transit safety plan and tweaked bylaws.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson