Increasing crime has downtown employees talking

 

By Anthony Sheardown

 

While some business employees in downtown Windsor are concerned about their personal safety and the safety of their business, others are not.

Recently there has been a shooting at the Boom Boom Room, a club on Ouellette Avenue, where an employee was shot in the back.

Pizza Pizza is located across the street from the Boom Boom Room and down the street from Shanfield-Meyers. They are open late on Friday and Saturday nights and have customers coming in from the bars and clubs. On Oct 4, when the shooting took place outside of the Boom Boom Room, Pizza Pizza was open, but had to close and evacuate all their customers at the request of Windsor Police.

“I actually don’t feel afraid at all because crime is everywhere,” said Humira Malik, an employee of Pizza Pizza.  “Crime is everywhere, not just in downtown. It just happens more often down here because people are intoxicated. They don’t think before they do something.”

Malik says she does not fear for the safety of Pizza Pizza employees and customers because, “No one is stupid enough to hit a business, especially with our kind of name, it is a big company,” says Malik.

She was sad to hear what happened to the victim of the shooting. She also said she thinks that the Boom Boom Room should lay low for a while and stop hosting big events, such as the upcoming Waka Flocka Flame concert this October.

“Honestly speaking, every fight I’ve heard of has happened at the Boom Boom Room. So I honestly don’t know why they keep doing such things there,” said Malik.

Ljubica Cajan works at Tunnel Discount Convenience next door to the Boom Boom Room and she said the shooting has made her more concerned for her safety and the safety of her business.

“It is scary. I have to think of who is coming in the store,” said Cajan.

Cajan said that last year a fight broke out in front of her store and her window was broken. Cajan said she thinks the crime rate may be increasing in Windsor.

“It’s hard to say. You never know, but it does look like it is,” said Cajan.