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EDMONTON – A neighbourhood president is calling out the Edmonton Police Service for what she says is a lack of resources in the area.

McCauley Community League President Meredith Porter made the comments after a violent assault in the area left one man in hospital with life threatening injuries.

Porter’s letter has been posted on the McCauley Community League website.

In the letter, the McCauley president not only talks about past criminal activity in the area, but gives a list of what residents would like to see from police in the future.

“When our residents call reporting a crime in progress, it seems as though there is always something more serious to attend to,” writes Porter. “There is no preventative policing, even though we can predict the outcomes.”

“It seems open season has been declared on our residents and our businesses. These crimes are committed by those who do not reside here; our people are reduced to machete-wielding self defence and reliance on passers-by,” continues Porter.

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Three men have been arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection with last weekend’s assaults.

Edmonton police say they are already taking proactive steps to fight crime in the area.

“The CAT team [Community Action Team] is out every month and that is a huge presence,” explains Clair Seyler, EPS spokesperson. “We always pick a select area, and McCauley has been selected several times, and we focus just on McCauley with a large police presence and we go directly after the drivers of crime and try to prevent any issues before they crop up.”

“Right now we have our crime in the McCauley area – violent crime – is down 9 percent over last year, so we’re making a lot of headway, but it’s not just a policing issue, it’s a community issue, there’s a lot more partners involved than just the police,” she adds.

“We need businesses involved, and the social services involved, and the community involved to address all the issues like addictions and other drivers of crime.”

In her letter, Porter has several requests for police:

· “Zero tolerance for public drinking, drunkenness and disorder.

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· Relocate events that propose to feed and ‘help’ crowds of greater than 500 persons.

· Lobby politicians and other governmental agencies for the deconcentration of poverty and associated services out of our distressed communities and into all corners and crevices of the City of Edmonton.

· Stop treating our neighbourhood like a public relations problem and/or social experiment and start treating us and our adjacent neighbouring communities like any other area in the City of Edmonton.

· Recognize the normalcy of everyone living their lives in McCauley.

· Do not villainize us for complaining of these circumstances.”

Edmonton police say a Superintendent and Deputy from downtown met with the McCauley community in June and will sit down to discuss issues again in August.

“It is a constant conversation that we’re having dealing with issues that crop up,” says Seyler.