Chatham-Kent’s Police Chief is urging everyone to take a more proactive approach towards safety and security.
A virtual town hall was held for business and property owners in downtown Wallaceburg this week, hosted by the Downtown Wallaceburg BIA.
Chief Gary Conn says it’s vital that anyone who sees something suspicious calls police right away.
“We can’t be everywhere 24/7, so we rely upon our citizens to act as our eyes and our ears to rely that information, suspect information to our officers so they can actively pursue an investigation, certainly surrounding any suspicious activity.”
Chief Conn says calls for service in Wallaceburg have been on the rise for the last few years. In 2016, the number of total calls was just shy of 3800, but had risen to over 6000 by 2020.
As it stands, 80% of calls for service in the Wallaceburg area involve complex social disorders including mental health issues, homelessness, poverty, and addictions. Conn says that’s where the Police Service Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan comes into effect.
“What this plan does is ensures that this marginalized, vulnerable sector of our society are being served by the subject matter experts to provide them with the services that they need.”
Conn also encourages more business and property owners to install security cameras to help catch criminals and prevent future incidents.
Earlier this year while investigating a pair of break-ins on James Street, Conn says officers found only two security cameras in all of downtown Wallaceburg, neither of which were actually working.
The municipality is working on a pilot project to get closed circuit cameras installed in downtown Chatham with a direct link to the police station. If it proves to be a successful crime prevention strategy, similar devices will eventually be added to Wallaceburg’s downtown core as well.
