New 12-officer unit aims to tackle crime downtown
Being blocked from leaving your house by someone passed out on your front porch will get a much quicker police response with the approval Wednesday of a new 12-officer problem oriented policing unit, says Chief Al Frederick. Up to now, these types of typical downtown problems were considered low-priority calls that might take officers an hour or two to respond to. But the chief said that’s changing after the police-services board approved the project, which will add $1.4 million to the annual police budget. The force currently has 430 officers.
“These are things we need to respond to,” he said. “When people call the police in the downtown core, there’s going to be dedicated officers who are going to arrive and deal with the problem quickly.” While it will take about a year to recruit, hire and train 12 new officers, the chief said the project can get going in as little as a month because existing officers will be shifted into this new POP unit for the time being. Ultimately, it will be made up of a mix of first-, second-, third- and fourth-class constables.
While the unit is being created to deal with a rise in property and violent crimes in the downtown core, it will be a mobile unit that can be moved to tackle crime problems in other areas of the city, he said. There’s been an 18 per cent increase to date this year in property crimes and a seven per cent rise in violent crimes across the city, but those numbers are being driven by what’s happening in the core. They’re connected to large increases in people with addictions, mental-health issues and a combination of the two, he said. “And as a result, increasing crime rates: thefts, quality-of-life issues.” He said, based on feedback officers hear from the public, people expect officers to do something about these problems.
The board approved the unit as a pilot project, which will be monitored with quarterly reports. But the board’s chairman, Mayor Drew Dilkens, said if the unit succeeds in reducing crime rates downtown, he can’t see a future police board clawing it back. City council still has to approve the budget increase. “Having these additional officers in the downtown will allow those types of calls (like someone sleeping on your porch) to be dealt with in an immediate manner, and we know that impacts the quality of life for residents, especially in the downtown core,” the mayor said. “I want to make sure the residents in the downtown core for sure understand we know there’s a problem, no one’s shying away from the problem.”
Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin, who represents the core, said downtown residents have expressed their frustration over slow responses to their calls for assistance. “Am I going to say adding 12 officers is a bad thing? No, but I’m downtown every day and I see the kinds of crimes that are happening.”
They are usually acts of desperation — breaking into a shed to steal bikes or smashing a car window to grab some loose change — committed by addicts who don’t care about being caught as long as they can feed their addiction. What these people need is support to help them kick their habits and get off the street, he said.
He thinks Windsor would benefit from a program like the one in Hamilton in which officers team with social workers to help solve the problem.
“Adding 12 officers could and will help,” Bortolin said.
“But that person is more than likely going to end up back on the street in a few days, doing the same thing.”