Fort Erie welcomes new top cop
Staff Sgt. Kim McAllister hadn’t dealt with a single snowmobile related call in her nearly 30 years of policing until she arrived in Fort Erie.
The town’s new top cop has been at the helm of the Niagara Regional Police Service’s District 5 since November and with Greater Fort Erie’s wide geographical area and a population of 30,000 people, these are the types of matters she is finding unique to the position – things she never dealt with in her various roles with the NRP, most recently spending three years with the Special Victims Unit.
The face of police in Fort Erie, McAllister said the community has been very welcoming so far and she looks forward to meeting more residents and business owners.
“I find it a very warm community and I’m very happy to be here,” she said in an interview on Wednesday morning.
She said the issues people are troubled with in Fort Erie mirror the struggles others are having around Niagara and that there isn’t a specific concern that stands out when it comes to the types of incidents reported to local police.
People acting out as the result of financial hardships, domestic disputes, illegal drugs – every small town has problems, she said.
“In a lot of ways, it’s like every other community – I don’t think we’re any different here,” said McAllister.
In many other parts of Niagara, an opioid crisis is being confronted by local officials. Although Fort Erie is one of the region’s smaller municipalities, deadly drugs like fentanyl are being sold on the streets there as well, said McAllister.
“It’s impacted this community too,” she said.
McAllister has already met with groups around town, including the Bridgeburg Business Improvement Area.
She encourages business owners to approach her with concerns and some of the issues they would like to see tackled by local police – or to simply introduce themselves.
McAllister also recently sat in on a Town of Fort Erie traffic advisory committee meeting and had conversations she found very helpful with addressing specific concerns felt by the community.
“It gives us information on areas we need to do more targeted policing,” she said.
McAllister, who is from Niagara Falls, has replaced Darren Forbes, Fort Erie’s previous staff sergeant, who is now an inspector with the NRP.