Those who leave housing are the lucky ones

I’m wondering why two break-ins to the mailroom at 45 Buckingham Dr. didn’t get any media coverage. Over 100 residents of this public housing building, many of them seniors, had to go to the Post Office for their mail while the damage was repaired which took about a week.

Stealing mail is a serious offence. The local newspapers get their crime news from the police but in this case, they must not have received anything which leaves it open to speculation: Did the police not wish to draw attention to the problem with meth transients who frequent public housing?

Between the break-ins, one in July and the other in August, individual mailboxes were also pried open from the front.

The fact is, you can’t get through a day here without seeing meth addicts numerous times. I see them in the lounge, using the lobby’s intercom, hanging around the main entrance and using the elevators.

One resident was assaulted by a meth man and had three ribs broken. Human excrement has been found on the floor twice. Bicycles in the storage room have been stolen, leaving only the front wheels which were locked to the bike rack. We see new meth addicts every year but a number of last summer’s faces still come around after they’ve spent time in jail.

Numerous people have been moving out of the building this summer. They’ve considered lucky.

Murray Scott
Stratford