business

Q: What’s a tough situation you’ve had?

A: Last fall, two young men were fighting on the mall and one gentleman got stabbed in the arm. We witnessed it. We called our dispatcher, who alerted the police. The victim had a cut arm. The perpetrator was filmed on camera. He was arrested a couple days later. We also like to think we prevent crime by our presence and visibility.

 

Q: How many miles do you put in most days?

A: It probably averages six or eight miles a day and depends what I’m doing. I like to stretch my legs and meet people.

 

Q: How do you see yourself making downtown a better place to do business?

A: We keep the area cleaner, greener and safer. We hold doors open for the public. We think more people will come downtown. We have regular contact with store owners, managers and employees. We ask them what they need around their property. We let them know we’re here to serve them and their customers. They like that. And we get a lot of comments from customers and e-mails from out-of-town people who say: ‘Nice program. We wish we had it in our town.’

 

Q: What do you recommend we all do to make downtown a better place?

A: Communication is the place to start. Take off the headphones, notice things and greet people. I talk to the young people about that. We build our downtown community by talking to each other and looking out for one another. Not by littering and ignoring each other.

 

Neal St. Anthony • 612-673-7144