'I want to feel safe in my own yard,' says woman who found used syringe in her garden

A mother of two in Prince George is concerned that a surge in homelessness,crime and drug usein the area isspilling into residents' yards after finding a discarded needle in her garden.

Hana Bullard, who has a one-year-old and four-year-old, found the used needlein her front yard last week while talking to a neighbour.

Her children were following just behind her when she spotted the sharp object.

"I still feel a little sick to my stomach thinking about it," she told CBC's Audrey McKinnon.

"As soon as you see it, you have this image of your small child contacting this."

Feeling unsafe

Her two children often play in the garden, Bullard said, crawling around in the grass near where the needle was.

"It makes me feel very unsafe," she said. "This is my home and I don't want to send my kids out in my own yard."

She called the city and bylaw officers showed up to remove the needle.

"They were very good and they replied very quickly and came out to look after it," she said.

Call for more patrols

But Bullard wants to see more preventive measures and police patrolsin her neighbourhood.

"I would just like to feel as though there is a bit more monitoring of the area," she said.

This is not the first time discarded needles have been an issue in Prince George.

In August, bylaw officers cleaned up enough syringes to fill a five gallon bucket in the city.

"Both my neighbourand Ihave found drug paraphernalia including needles before, but they are usually contained in the public parts of the street," Bullard said.

She's calling for change as crime seems to be moving closer and closer to residential areas.

"I want to feel safe in my own yard and I don't," Bullard said.

"I know of neighbours who have had people come into their homes, make themselves comfortable. I've had someone be physically assaulted in their own home. It's scary."

With files from Audrey McKinnon and Daybreak North.

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