Thunder Bay District Housing tenants who fear for their personal safety are waiting for help from city officials.

A housing corporation spokesperson said tenants' concerns are top-of-mind, particularly since an attack in one of its apartment complexes, which occurred earlier this month.

Thunder Bay District Housing plans to hire a security consultant to review all of its properties, said Melissa Harrison, the corporation's chief administrator. Dedicated patrols at Andras Court, a Cumberland Street apartment building that was the scene of an attack on four tenants Oct. 8, are a possibility.

"Our board will certainly consider the additional expenses,” she said. At the end of the day, our tenants are our number one priority,” Harrison said.

But tenants aren't likely to see any beefed-up security until next year.

Harrison said new initiatives would be part of the 2012 budget to be approved in February.

Problems plague complex

A support worker who visits seniors and people with disabilities at Andras Court says tenants have feared for their safety for a long time.

"It just breaks your heart that they're afraid,” said Kathy Kosolowski.

She said alcohol, drugs and violence plague the complex and police visits to the building are “a daily occurrence.”

Kosolowski said she wants a neighbourhood police station there.

But Thunder Bay Police Chief J.P. Levesque said the force doesn't have the budget for that. The housing corporation could consider paying for that kind of service, however. It already provides a service similar to this at some of its other buildings.

Levesque said hiring police for “extra duty” or hiring a private security firm is a good idea, but that is only a band-aid solution to a larger issue.

“We’re seeing a lot of people slip through the cracks and they’re not getting the support they need, whether it’s mental health or addiction issues,” he said.

“They’re ending up in buildings with vulnerable people. Thunder Bay housing may have to examine how they place people.”

Police attended to 237 calls at the Cumberland Street apartment complex in 2010. The building has traditionally been a seniors’ residence, Levesque noted, but it has changed.

Looking at community based policing

Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs said the closure of the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital “really hurt this community.”

He said he thinks community based policing could be an answer.

“I think the public needs to put pressure on the police and their politicians as well,” Hobbs said.

But Levesque said experience has shown community based policing doesn’t always work — particularly when a variety of social issues get thrust upon police.

“The program we had in place did include having a number of offices supplied by the Thunder Bay Housing,” he said.

“The problem we found was that they tended to be just in that housing area, as opposed to the whole neighbourhood, so the functionality wasn’t all that great.”

In the meantime, as anxious tenants at Andras Court wait for a solution, Harrison said the board is willing to pay for more security in the 2012 budget.

"We had planned to do a security review for some time now,” she said.

“Our board has had these discussions in the past. And it's certainly a priority of ours to have that review completed.”

The man charged in the Andras Court assaults, 29-year-old Eli John, is scheduled to make a court appearance Oct. 18.