A former Chatham-Kent police officer says the Chatham-Kent Police Service's move towards community-centric policing is the way to go.
Bill McGuire now co-chairs the Chatham Central Community Association, and adds similar groups are developing a relationship with police that will mean better interactions with the public.
"It's nice to have so many different agencies that are on board, mandated to have services that help the community along with policing," says McGuire. "Policing used to be a front-line option, you would call the police for anything, but not nowadays."
He's talking about Chatham-Kent initiatives like the municipality's Housing First project, or the CKPS mobile crisis unit, who work towards helping at-risk residents overcome homelessness and mental illness. McGuire adds this wasn't always the norm.
"A number of years ago, the way we got people help was to get them before the courts, and they would order required help. That's a slow process, it's a costly process, and it's not helping the individual," says McGuire.
McGuire was part of a panel that included other social service leaders discussing community safety and wellbeing at a recent forum.
