Lloydminster RCMP says it has reached out to a downtown food truck owner and will not turn away calls for service, responding to a Facebook post this week that described a difficult experience calling police for help.
Tacos El Habanero Food Truck posted about the incident Tuesday, saying the owner’s wife called police after a situation at the business left her feeling unsafe.
“We already sent people this morning. We are not going to send anyone else. Your best choice is to move from there,” the post says the caller was told.
The owner said the response left him and his wife searching for a way forward.
“Move from there? Really?” the owner wrote. “My wife has now made the difficult decision that she will no longer work there.”
He said the business is now short-staffed and asked customers for patience while they figure out how to keep operating.
A wider pattern, the owner says
The post described what the owner called a growing pattern downtown, including open drug use, drug dealing and public disturbances.
“Open drug use. Drug dealing. Intoxicated and unpredictable behaviour. Public disturbances,” the owner wrote, describing conditions he said extend well beyond his own business.
“It is a Lloydminster problem, and the most frustrating part, it doesn’t seem to be getting better. It seems to be getting worse,” he wrote.
The owner was careful to say the post was not aimed at people struggling with addiction.
“This is not about attacking people who struggle with addiction. Addiction is a serious issue, and people who need help deserve access to real treatment, support and compassion,” he wrote. “But compassion and accountability can exist at the same time.”
He said he wants drug dealers held accountable while people who use drugs get access to help.
“We can support people who need treatment while demanding action against those who sell and distribute illegal drugs,” he wrote.
The post asked residents to share their own experiences and raise concerns with the city and RCMP rather than treat individual incidents as isolated.
“Let’s stop treating these situations as isolated incidents. Let’s organize for our community,” the owner wrote. “Lloydminster deserves better.”
RCMP points to new patrols
S/Sgt. Bruce MacLean, operations NCO with the Lloydminster RCMP detachment, said the detachment reached out to the business owner directly after the post gained attention.
MacLean said the city and RCMP have recently launched a downtown initiative meant to address the kind of concerns raised in the post.
“The city, in partnership with your Lloydminster RCMP, have recently begun initiatives including the downtown enhanced foot and bicycle patrols to assist in addressing the public concerns,” said MacLean.
He acknowledged the limits of what officers are legally able to do.
“I would like to remind the public that police can only act within our authorities granted by the law,” said MacLean. “However, we will continue to use whatever tools we have available to address the public’s concerns within the parameters of the law and person’s rights.”
He said the detachment is not dismissing the concerns raised.
“We hear the concerns,” said MacLean. “We will not dissuade or turn away calls for service and encourage the public to contact the RCMP with any police matter they see.”
What happens next
The post comes as BorderPulse has been tracking separate concerns over emergency response capacity in Lloydminster, including recurring gaps in local ambulance coverage.
For now, the business says it remains short-staffed as it works out how to keep operating, while MacLean says the detachment will keep leaning on the tools it has as it works through the concerns raised downtown.
I refused to operate my food trailer in that spot knowing well what goes on it the downtown area.
However I don’t think the police should of told this food trailer owner to move. They have established thier business there and have loyal customers in the area.
Why should any business have to move? They have a right to be there.
The drug users and drug dealers do not. They are commiting illegal acts and they should be removed. When I am downtown, I see groups of vagrants blocking doorways, sleeping on benches and generally being a nuisance to the area’s shoppers. No shop is spared broken windows or doors. The stores can’t stay open past 6 pm as the shop owner’s and staff are teriffied of the activites going on outside. Less and less shoppers venture downtown, businesses are suffering. Many shop owner’s own thier building so they can’t simply move. They can’t sell thier business or thier building because no one wants to operate in the area in the state it’s in.
The whole downtown is held hostage by the alcohol and drug adducts snd dealers.
The city needs to remove them, as well as close down and remove permits and licences for any groups and businesses operating to support them, the Native Friendship Centre, the Residents in Recovery, the Men’s Shelter and any other group or business that attracts them to our downtown.
Remove them to where? Curious what the answer is…