St. Catharines Downtown Association

Three years ago, a 20-year-old man died in a knife fight on a St. Paul Street sidewalk, just 200 metres away from Christina Mckee's diner.

The gruesome death spurred debates over cameras and more policing downtown, where late-night partying is the weekend norm.

Alcohol-fueled crime remains a problem in the core, but these days Christina's Eatery rarely suffers an associated hangover. Mckee said it has been several years since her restaurant windows were smashed by vandals, for example.

"I think it's getting better," said the owner of 24 St. Paul St., which is surrounded by several popular night spots. "The police are out there…. It seems to be making a difference."

The numbers tell the same story, according to Niagara Regional Police.

Downtown complaints to police and charges were down last year compared to 2008, Supt. Carl Scott told the St. Catharines Downtown Association Tuesday.

In particular, fines issued under the city's nuisance bylaw dropped from 185 to 110 last year. That includes 63 charges for public urination — a mere trickle compared to the 110 cases of peeing punishment in 2008. It also means fewer people fined for fighting, throwing bottles and knocking over garbage cans and mailboxes.

Scott attributed that success to extra officers walking the beat downtown, co-operative monitoring of nightclubs by police, fire officials and the province and the city's nuisance bylaw.

Scott called the nuisance bylaw, enacted in 2008, "one of the most stringent" in the country.

"It's having reasonable success in deterring complaints downtown," he said. "It looks like we're having an effect."

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