Closer ties
Truro’s community enhancement officers are ready to share
Nurturing better relations between Truro police and the people they serve is the goal of the community enhancement division.
High-fives and hugs are some of the most meaningful rewards Const. Karen DeGroot receives for her work as a police officer.
DeGroot, along with constables Kelly Quinn and Danny Quinn, form the Truro Police Service’s community enhancement division. DeGroot is also the school resource officer for Truro Elementary, Truro Junior High and Ecole acadienne de Truro, while Kelly Quinn is the resource officer at Cobequid Educational Centre and Danny Quinn is the town traffic officer.
“It’s good to let children see we’re normal people,” said DeGroot. “Some kids have told me they didn’t know they could talk to police. Getting in the community lets people see us in a different light.”
As community enhancement officers they also provide presentations to groups, from preschoolers to seniors. Topics they’ve addressed include phone scams, fraud, street safety, internet safety and cyberbullying, and they’d like to hear from people interested in having them speak. The community room at the station
can be booked for these presentations.
“When we do talks in the community we’re learning, too,” said Kelly Quinn. “We sometimes think we know what people want to talk about and then they ask questions and things go in another direction.”
The officers also provide tours of the station, attend events like youth and seniors expos, and will help people organize neighbourhood watches.
Kelly Quinn will be working on the CEC Safe Grad and may be looking for volunteers to assist her.
Anyone interested in having the community enhancement officers address a group can call the Truro Police Service at 902895-5351.
“Some kids have told me they didn’t know they could talk to police. Getting in the community lets people see us in a different light.”
Const. Karen DeGroot