The Windsor Police Service says it’s stepping up its presence inside a troubled not-for-profit housing complex, where a 48-hour raid of the building last week resulted in 24 arrests.
Paolo DiCarlo, superintendent of investigations, told reporters at Thursday’s police service’s board meeting that the force has had a presence staffed by four to eight officers in the building since mid-August.
Police also hope to team up with community partners who provide wrap-around support service to tenants.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of every problem,” DiCarlo said of partnership-based initiatives such as the new one being developed at Glengarry.
“We’re also in the business of helping people.”
DiCarlo said the building is one of the department’s top locations for violent crime and their presence in the building is about providing both quick response and services.
Police made a total of 32 arrests during two patrols at Glengarry on Aug. 10 and 20.
The charges included six counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of arson, and eight counts of theft under $5,000.
Police also arrested two people on Aug. 5 with firearms and $30,000 worth of drugs. A dozen people were arrested in July on charges pertaining to abduction and torture. And another two people were arrested in connection with a home invasion in June.
Residents have told CBC they have ongoing safety concerns with the building.
The chief tenant services officer with the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation (WECHC) said earlier this month the organization responded to residents’ fears by reaching out to police to see if they could increase their focus on Glengarry.
“We already have security guards that work at Glengarry 24/7,” Nolan Goyette said. “But we felt that we needed some additional presence just to support some of the health and safety concerns, not only the tenants [but] folks who are staff.”
One focus for the officers in the building is figuring out who the building’s legitimate tenants are and who is trespassing, DiCarlo said.
“I think that’s part of the problem,” he added. “There needs to be a method or a better way of finding out and being able to remove people that are not supposed to be there.”