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Last Updated: May 8th, 2008 - 20:33:00
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While the province hasn’t made any decisions on how it will divvy up $42 million earmarked for hiring more cops, Lethbridge regional police Chief Tom McKenzie says a greater street presence, strong community partnerships and a proactive approach to policing are his priorities.
The federal funds — part of a larger $400-million budget initiative to recruit 2,500 officers across the country — will be handed out over the next five years.
“A nice average that we would like to have is one policeman for every 500 people in our community,” said McKenzie.
Locally there are 140 police officers, five short of the service’s authorized strength due largely to retirements, maternity leaves and secondments. Per capita that means there’s roughly one cop for every 625 people. McKenzie points out an eight-member recruit class is expected to begin training in early May and the new officers will help fill in the gaps.
The chief says feedback from the service’s community surveys and recent public forums suggest the public would like to see more police officers on the street, more traffic enforcement and a targeted approach to other crimes, such as graffiti.
“We hear constantly in our forums that people want to see more of us,” he said. “It helps them feel safe in their neighbourhoods. They know that we’re able to respond quickly to their quality of life problems.”
But just being visible isn’t enough. McKenzie says officers must be proactive, working in partnership with other community organizations to help prevent crime and reduce social problems.
“We want to be a friend of the community, a protector of the community and we want to be contributing to change in the community,” he said.
“The key focus that we would really like to have as a police service is very proactive versus just reactive. We don’t want to just respond to calls for service, we want to play a part in community partnerships.”
Police already have strong partnerships with several key initiatives in the city, including harm and substance abuse reduction, the domestic action violence team, sexual violence action committee and more.
“It’s having a capacity to be able to get people engaged in community work and partnerships, (and) being able to develop and deliver educational programs and awareness programs.”
© Copyright by Lethbridge Herald.com
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