Plans to build a new park behind the Wood Innovation and Design Centre downtown were immediately met with concerns over the space being a potential new hotbed for criminal activity, but it doesn't raise any flags for local law enforcement.
"We're always in favour of greenspaces, this being no different," said Prince George RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Craig Douglass.
As long as any new addition to the city, whether it's a park or a building, is created with crime prevention in mind, there aren't usually problems, Douglass said.
During a presentation to city council earlier this week, Mark van der Zalm, president of concept design firm van der Zalm and Associates, said the early drawings were done with a crime-prevention emphasis.
Last summer, the city leveled Millennium Park at the corner of First Avenue and George Street based on recommendations from the RCMP and Community Policing.
A berm and trees were removed to get rid of low-visibility areas for people to hide.
"We've definitely had a significant drop of issues in that area because it was not designed with crime prevention in mind," said Douglass.
Though some members of council were calling for a concerted effort to supervise the new park, Douglass said it already falls into the RCMP's jurisdiction.
"it doesn't matter whether there's a park there or an empty lot or a building, if it's going to have problems, it's going to have problems and we'll have to deal with those problems," Douglass said.
