Hess Village homicide highlights neighbourhood concerns

Despite a heavy police presence on Hess Village's strip of bars, violence, like Friday night's deadly shooting, continue to plague two nearby plazas.

The manager at Vida La Pita, who declined to give his name, said he's repeatedly asked policeto keep a presence outsidehis restaurant.

His requestwon't be getting support from downtown councillor Jason Farr, who said police have to make those decisions and instead suggested he could hire a special dutyofficer to patrol his plaza.

Late on Friday night, actually around 3 a.m. Saturday morning, the manager said he and his staff were busy serving people who had left Hess bars when the shooting happened.

"We didn't hear anything until everything was done," he said, adding news of what happened quickly spread through the restaurant.

After the shooting was declared a homicide, the manager said the investigation forced his restaurant to close for the entire day. Police are still searching for information about who killed McMaster student Tyler Johnson, 30, but the crime scene itself has been cleared now.

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At the pita shop, there's still questions about why there was no police presence there that night. The pattern is clear, the manager said: people drunk or on drugs spill out of Hess Village into two nearby plazas, his and an adjacent one with a Tim Hortons, where they linger and fights frequently break out. And now weapons are being drawn.In September, there was a fatal stabbing outside the Tim Hortons,and lastyear there was a shooting in the area.

"If they see a cop, nobody would fight," he said.

"We've discussed it with the police before they know there's a problem down here."

A Hamilton police spokesperson said the force's strategy is straightforward.

"We don't police specific businesses, we respond to calls," said Const. Debbie McGreal-Dinning.

Police were asked to comment further, but declined to provide more details.

Council won't tell police how to operate

Coun. Jason Farr, who represents the ward where the shooting took place, said he heard the bad news through Twitter. "This is a tragic event and it's not something that any neighbourhood wants to be party to," Farr told CBC News.

"You feel right away, at least I did, for some ma and pa that lost their kid."

Farr said he's waiting for more details about the homicide to come out, but that he won't be asking the police to reconsider where they deploy resources. Where police choose to patrol, Farr said, is an operational decision that police base on statistics. While the city frequently fields calls from residents asking them to beef up patrols in specific areas, councillors have "no place" in telling police officers where to work.

As for Vida La Pita's repeated requests for a police officer outside its shop, Farr said the manager could hire an officer.

"If that was his desire, I'd be surprised if [Hamilton police] didn't offer him a paid-duty officer," Farr said, referring to the system in place so organizations can essentially rent a police officer to provide security.

The manager said he wouldn't be doing that. He said the taxes he pays should be enough to have that service.

Because of the concentration of people atHess Village, the bars there have in recent years beenrequired by the city to hirepaid-duty officers. It's acostly requirement some are fighting in court. The police force also deploys its action team, which has around 10 officers.

Plazas are a "hot spot": task force

Farr and Coun. Chad Collins, who both sit on the city's Cleanliness and Security in the Downtown Core Task Force, said the Hess Village areahas more police officers assigned to the area than ever in its history.

"It's a world of difference from five or six years ago," Collins said.

Still, the plazas remain a "hot spot" for violence.

Outside of what Collins calls high-level solution, like overhauling the area's lighting, it's not clear what the city can do. At the task force's bimonthly meetings, police representatives haven't said they're under-resourced, Collins said.

Like Farr, Collins said it's not his place to ask the police to cover the plazas.

Collins said he's hopeful people will still go to the Hess area, despite the incident.

Vida La Pita's manager isn't certain. After the last shooting nearby, he said his business suffered for two months as party-goers moved to venues elsewhere in Hamilton and Burlington they perceived to be safer. This Saturday's shooting has also rattled his staff. At the pita shop, he showed CBC Hamilton a written request from a female employee asking to be taken off the evening shifts from now on.

The manager said his request for a police car in his lot is a small one, especially considering the amount of staff and money being devoted to the homicide investigation.

"They spend more money on investigations than they do on prevention," he said.

"It's not going to get a life back."