A couple of concerned west Windsor residents are issuing a heartfelt plea to clean up the drug needle problem in their neighbourhood before somebody dies.
Ryan Tate says his 4-year-old daughter came across a syringe while playing basketball at Forster High School, July 9. He fears she could have been stuck.
Tate says the area is busy with innocent children playing and does not want anyone to get hurt.
"Anything can happen in a boarded up neighbourhood. That's a breeding ground for drugs and all that other stuff," says Tate.
Hunter Kersey, Director of Security with the Ambassador Bridge Company, also lives in the neighbourhood and says area children are at risk. He wants all the boarded up homes around Forster demolished. The 32-year-old military veteran says the houses are a danger to the neighbourhood because they are structurally unsound and some are in danger of collapse.
He also says they have recently been infiltrated by drug addicts who are not from Windsor. He believes more police patrols would help.
Kersey says every day he deals with copper thieves, drug addicts, and prostitutes and he has had enough.
"I do not want to see any boarded-up houses that can be used by vagrants or drug addicts as havens in this community," Kersey says.
Kersey says he wants all concerned parties to come together and solve the problem.
"I want to see the community come together, put aside political differences, and do something to counter-act this issue before any other children get hurt," says Kersey.
The city has a bylaw to preserve heritage buildings in Old Sandwich Towne and prevents the demolition of dilapidated homes.
