The police can’t do their job without the support of its citizens.
“We need the community to help us find out information, gathering intelligence and so on,” said OPP Const. Diana Cole.
Cole, along with members of the Thunder Bay Police Service, Nishnawbe Aski Police Service and the RCMP were at Intercity Shopping Centre Wednesday to celebrate Police Week, an annual weeklong campaign to raise awareness of what police forces do in their communities as well as promote crime prevention.
Keeping dialogue open between police services and the public is vital in helping the police do their jobs and making the community a safer place, said Cole.
Thunder Bay Police Service Insp. Lorne Clifford said events like Police Week are important in keeping communication going between the police and the general public.
“We need to know what’s happening in the community and the community happens to be the eyes and ears for us. We’re highly reactive. We arrive when the people call us so that’s the opportunity for us to conduct business,” he said.
“We’re certainly out there driving around taking all things in, but when people actually see things going on within their neighbourhoods and they draw attention to it and make sure we’re aware of it, it gives us a real leg up on what’s going on out there,” Clifford said.
In strengthening ties with the community, the local police force was giving out information on Zone Watch, a neighbourhood policing model run through social media.
Through the program, the community will be divided into six zones with dedicated police officers in each area, which Clifford said will help police understand crime patterns in those areas and build familiarity with the people that live and work in each zone.
