Another great meeting of the Police Board. Some highlights I found interesting are:
Naloxone was used 32 times in the month of January in Ontario by the OPP saving 27 lives including some local ones.
Catalytic Converter theft is significant, two have been reported in the Town of Essex recently.
The top call for service for the Town of Essex is traffic enforcement. Residents on the 3rd Concession have called in for commercial vehicle traffic and speeding. The officers have made it a top priority but have not had much success with ticketing but it is not off the radar.
Mental Health and the pandemic a lot of people are experiencing difficulties which are usually referred to our mental health team, the OPP had 22 calls for mental health services in January.
In January there were 13 domestic occurrences. January is usually a busy month for domestics. Of the 13, 2 resulted in criminal charges.
There were 10 Ambulance assist calls, 5 were group homes needing assistance with residents.
Complaints related to Covid, 5 complaints about businesses and 4 regarding residents. No charges were placed.
Motor vehicle accidents are down due to less cars on the road and increases in enforcement.
There was also discussion from Staff Sergeant Mike Bradley and Chair Kim Verbeek about hosting more RIDE programs. Director Doug Sweet also questioned how the OPP determine where to do the programs. Chair Verbeek requested more RIDE programs as the lockdown lifts and warm weather hits.
Chair Verbeek brought up the concern in the community about Big Hill park and issues with possible drug deals. Councillor Morley Bowman would like to encourage residents to call the police when they see something suspect going on, it is much more effective than calling a councillor.
A reminder anyone can zoom in if you give the town 24 hours notice, please provide your contact information (name, address, email and phone number) to the Committee Recording Secretary via email to saubin@essex.ca or phone 519-776-7336 ex 1128. I hope council votes to upload these meetings to our You Tube Channel.
c6cffea5-8e16-47a5-a008-ace1009efdcf (essex.ca)
