The Lethbridge Downtown Clean and Safe Strategy (DCSS) is asking the city for more funding as the number of initiatives increase and produce positive results.

The Community Issues Committee heard a presentation from Urban Revitalization manager, Andrew Malcolm, on Monday evening.

In that presentation, Malcolm addressed several issues mentioned in a poll as being seen in the downtown Lethbridge area, including public drug use, thefts and racial insensitivity.

The DCSS polled more than a dozen community groups, several city departments, as well as external parties that included the Lethbridge police, Heart of Our City Committee, Canadian Mental Health Association, the Diversion Outreach Team, the Clean Sweep Program, the Downtown BRZ and the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce.

The poll results show that public drug use and needle debris have been reduced.

Surfacing more recently are higher statistics of violence toward services designed to help and instances of racial insensitivity.

Malcolm says the DCSS has seen positive results in the initiatives already started, including partnerships with the Lethbridge Police Service to create the Watch, and the Clean Sweep Program.

“The Downtown Clean and Safe Strategy was first launched in the beginning of 2019, on the heels of the BRZ and the chamber and a number of businesses in the downtown and surrounding area coming forward with concerns with cleanliness and safety,” Malcolm said.

“So we quickly mobilized and put together a strategy. When we first brought it forward in 2019 there were 12 initiatives. Throughout the year of implementation we grew that to 18 initiatives.