Sparse attendance Till- lit- RAID October J Police main issue at Acton Fundraisers sought to aid Contact Centre tic complete ini 1 in not afraid of 11 txiltl t Mr her icn minis commit tut 1 I My II rk ACTONS CHOICE Tit North Contact Centre w likt form a Friends of Contact who would Acting chief confident situation will im people o pi this type of would allow it 12 to provide I hi iher than f of follow Hi about tit need or i si recuittl donations lie public but more is siill needed to keep me in ways She said lit of the Cnulatt Centre is visualised as fund raising in for tin contact Mrs d Tie I- of the tntr would be tie putilic the Slid dilacl J j Oil rtli tenin i minti I hi newk restructure lljdrn Ijtivt against two from tit and tht major Higher I assessments hi will pr mi a ratcpiytrs roup fr m lit ana hi said They will the judiciarj in rfiLnl their Taws newer hiunts ire on older the province has il its a sessment fact over the years This was the public rum arranged for the election Vollnp will tike plact next Tuesdi J Herald staff writer In a itatt of the union address to regional councillors last Thursday Halton a acting police chief James Harding acknowledged that while the controversial force docs in deed have problems it is beyond doubt will acting thief a number of problems at the meeting which convened at the request of regional council He said the force has difficulty embracing regiona and the records depart of the force is in a shambles He said transfers within the might help alleviate this problem and added the force is also considering establishing morality and fraud squads The force Is headed towards Die establishment of a crime prevention bureau The meeting began with Oakville Major Harry Barret of the commission outlining tlio history of the force for the benefit of the councillors from the time it was formed in 1973 to the lime he force took over the policing for all townships the day when the commission requested that the Ontario Police Commission conduct an investigation of the force In order lo give the commission an overview of the manage operation of the My relationship with the commission is excellent Deputy Hard d am impressed thai com mission aim Is to obtain for the highest possible standard of policing I am proud of the fact thai 1 am able lo say at meeting that we have officers and men in this force who are capable of ICE III POUT The deputychief outlined the problems which have been dogging Ihe force and the status of the solutions lo these problems He said he Is looking at facets of the force operation before mak ing changes One of the concerns in last year controversial police association report was the workload of the officers Deputy Chief Hording said The to the heavy workload might be Insufficient numbers of officers or poor deployment or n lock of proficiency on the part of the officers but it is probably a combination of the three he said The Deputy Chief said he has taken the since he had been appointed acting chief to visit every division In each district and talk to the officers and men Individually In groups Unfortunately my visits to the divisions were the for many of the men to meet their chief he sold He touched on the recent Issue of public concern about the police use of firearms saying he wanted be sure before a gun Is issued to a police officer that the man is proficient with the gun is fully aware of the lows which stilt the circumstances under which he may use it I m an ex soldier and proud of it he said 1m not a cowboy and I don intend our officers to be either Setting up a preven Hon bureau is one of Deputy Chief Harding s most imme diate goals He said the force is locked Into a reactive posture with regards to Chief Harding said ho will be appointing a regio nal Crime Prevention Officer in October and hopes ally to hove Crime Proven Officer in each district COMMUNITY SUPPORT Promotions which were bone of contention with the officers the asso ciation report on morale on the arc now being brought up to date Deputy Chief Harding said During June July August all officers who hod applied for promo tions had been Interviewed Two since been promoted sergeant to staff sergeant and seven from constable to sergeant In order to ensure that every officer is aware of what is expected from him in order to qualify for promotion guide lines have been drawn up and distributed to each division the deputychief sold He said transfers within the region will also be Increasing lo age the development of a sense of unity When Mayor Barrett threw the floor open for questions the first to take of the opportunity was Burling ton regional councillor Walter who requested the meeting between the sion and the council earlier this summer He asked whether the police commission was dtring the formation of a citizen review board to deal with complaints about the Glenn vice of the commission the commission hod dis the matter thoroughly and felt that it wouldn t wont to sec a review board solely for but would be in favor of a on the provincial level Mayor Barrel added lint he felt complaint procedure now open to the public would virtually tee that complainant would satisfaction Hording said tht force would be looking in Ihe near future at forming a fraud squid and morollty squad because incidences of both types of crime justified the use of a group of tors The- morality squad would be involved with crimes involving drugs liquor and such offences keeping a common bawdy house he said Hills councillors Hoy Booth asked whclhcr the force was considering putting sirens hick in the police cruisers in Georgetown the cruisers had been equipped with them force He said he has complaints from officers who believe the siren is an and from liens who believe the flashing lights ore inadequate Deputy Chief Harding said the trend among police forces is towards rcmovinf sirens and that studies tend to indl sirens cause more dents than not I been told this force has the highest paid of fliers in Ontario or Canada I vt been told they have the prcltlest uniforms and le been told we hive the lowest cost per capita of policing none of which impresses me in the least councillor Laurie Manncll said Hi asked Deputy Chief Harding what his priorities would be if the council wore hand him a large sum of muncy do with as he wished Deputy Chief Harding said he would put the money into manpower training and equip ment He pointed out that to man one patrol zone hours a dny requires six officers portable radio cruisers I rain ing and equipment The tost lo man one rone is in neigh of he said Some of the regional council lors expressed their concern about a lock of between social in the region and the police department Oakville councillor Terry asked if men patrolling the streets are committed or not they feel fret to make sugge stions lo the administration far the majority are dedicated professional police officers Deput Hinting They feel bad when they are whipped by the press when tlity arc whipped by politicians and whin they whipped senior police officers My are second to none The officers have been bathed in a shower of remarks from the Ontario Police Commission report he added The cers need assurance thai hive public support The time musl die when the chief and senior officers arc always right Deputy Chief Hording said I have wealth of knowledge and ex with my officers on the street and 1 be pretty stupid with our ATTENTION EXMUSICIANS Anyone who can play or used to play Band Instruments Clarinet Flute Trumpet whatever the Acton Citizens Band Is offering a quick refresher course so that you can sharpen up your skills and join the Band Some Instruments can be supplied Please enquire from GEORGE ELLIOTT 8530365 Chairs Mirrors I Bedding Bedroom gougeon HOUSEHOLD FURNISHING DOWNTOWN GEORGETOWN 8772522