Foot patrols showing results

News — 29 November 2011

By Chris Marchand

Officers of the Dryden Police Service are spending more time out of their cruisers and policing the community on foot.

Directing officers to increase foot patrols whenever possible since his arrival in August, Police Chief Rob Davis says his most recent statistics indicate that officers spent four times longer outside of their vehicles in October (44 hours) as they did in October of 2010 (11 hours).

Coming into the job, Davis says a public survey within outgoing chief Shayne MacKinnon’s 2011-13 business plan revealed eroding confidence in the safety of local parks and the downtown core.

“There was some feedback that people were feeling less safe in the parks and downtown,” said Davis. “That bothered me. Parks are there for people to enjoy and if you lose your downtown then it’s tough to get it back. In my policing career I’ve always found that one of the best ways to restore that public confidence is through visibility. Seeing a police cruiser just doesn’t cut it. I’m a firm believer that the officers have to get out on foot and get to know the town again. The intricacies of where the alleys go, who the merchants are, do they see any gang tagging? Similarly with our parks.”

Davis says the members of the police service have been more receptive to the idea than he imagined.

“I anticipated some pushback but it seems like everybody’s bought in. It’s great.”

A night foot patrol through Pronger Park in October ended in the arrest of an intoxicated individual who became violent with police when confronted.

“I’d rather we go out there and proactively find someone who’s going to detract from a positive experience in a park, rather than a citizen come across them and not feel safe,” said Davis.

Davis took to the streets himself during the recent Midnight Madness shopping event and said he received plenty of positive feedback from merchants and particularly the elderly about police visibility downtown.

Davis adds there’s an obvious health benefit.

“There’s enough research out there that we spend so much time out there sitting down in the cruiser and sometimes eating not the best food,” he says. “I’m generalizing — not everybody is eating fast food and drinking gallons of coffee. But, an hour a day, or even half and hour per day, I’d rather see them do some sort of physical activity for their own health and well-being.”

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