Loud, abusive behaviour by some individuals in Belleville’s Downtown District was a topic of discussion at a meeting of city council Monday.
Councillor Kelly McCaw asked BIA Executive Director Luisa Sorentino about a letter from a group of business and property owners concerned about certain individuals scaring people away from the district regularly with repeated anti-social behaviour.
Sorentino said the BIA has concerns as well but is not an enforcement agency.
McCaw, a member of the police services board, said the issue is a tough one, adding that police foot patrols in the downtown have increased significantly. “It seems whatever we do it’s never enough.”
Meanwhile, one of people involved with concerned business and property owners, Mark Turner, admitted that police were in the downtown more than ever and that the BIA was not an enforcement organization but said a handful of individuals hurling abuse at people on an almost daily basis should be “removed from the streets.”
