Spurred to action by recent violent incidents, including a sexual assault of a 16-year-old on a trail in the Deerwood area last week, several dozen Thompson residents took to the streets Sept. 18 to voice their opposition to the effects of crime on the community.
“We’ve had enough of the violence and we’re taking a stand,“ said Tiff Price, one of the Take Back Thompson Walk organizers, in a Facebook live video during the walk. Price later told CBC News that she lives near where the assault occurred and has children that play regularly in the area.
Fellow organizer Jenny Cameron told fellow participants at the conclusion of the walk, which started and ended at City Hall and included a full lap of Thompson and Princeton drives, that change can start from the bottom and expand upwards.
“The whole premise behind the walk was to gather together and be a driving force for change in our community,” she said. “We are going to be the change and we need to bridge the gap between the grassroots level and members above that and we are going to be the people that do it. Take this momentum and run with it. Do whatever is in your control your power to be a contributing loving member of this community.”
One of the ideas people have suggested for making Thompson safer is to have citizen patrols, much like what is done by the Bear Clan in Winnipeg and other cities, and used to be done by the Citizens on Patrol program in Thompson.
“We definitely welcome brainstorming,” Price said to participants. “We know there’s has been a lot of talk abut patrolling in individual areas in town. We can make connections, we can talk to people in our community and start doing these things. Hopefully this is just the start.”
The event attracted the attention of Mayor Colleen Smook, who was at City Hall to greet the participants as they finished up the walk. Thompson city councillor Jeff Fountain and Thompson MLA Danielle Adams were among the walk participants.
