EPS quietly pulled their Downtown (other areas as well) 'beats' 2-3 years ago now to redistribute the resources city-wide and do a more 'response approach' based on data.
While not the singular approach to success, having a visible presence in our Downtown (and other areas as well) would help.
Senior EPS staff told me verbatim that patrol officers were causing 'stress' to those most vulnerable on our streets and while I am sympathetic to that, the vast majority of the general public are now 'stressed' due to the ever declining feeling and reality of safety there.
I've been back Downtown for four days and honestly have yet to see any visible EPS/Constabulary presence and that's disappointing given what's evolving/taking place here.