The Lambton Group Police Services Board [LGPSB] has doubled in size to provide greater representation throughout the County of Lambton.
The board, which oversees local Ontario Provincial Police operations, increased from five members to ten members on April 1 as a result of changes under the Community Safety and Policing Act.
The newest members were sworn in on April 17.
There are now six municipal representatives, two community representatives and two provincial appointees.
Petrolia, Plympton-Wyoming, St. Clair Township and Lambton Shores have each appointed one representative to the board. They include; Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley, Plympton-Wyoming Mayor Gary Atkinson, St. Clair Township Mayor Jeff Agar and Lambton Shores Councillor Dave Marsh.
Oil Springs, Dawn-Euphemia, and Enniskillen will be represented by Oil Springs Mayor Ian Veen, while Warwick and Brooke-Alvinston will be represented by Warwick Township Deputy Mayor John Couwenberg.
Point Edward is not included as it has its own police services board.
Representing the community at large, Lambton Central Collegiate and Vocational Institute [LCCVI] Principal Greg Nemcek returns as chair and is joined by Bill Beveridge who works as the Manager of Security Services at Bluewater Health's CEE site in Petrolia.
"Our main goals are just to work together to make the community safe," Nemcek told Sarnia News Today. "To work with our police services and any concerns that they have, and our municipalities have, we can work together to make it better for everybody."
Nemcek said recruitment is always a focus.
"We would love to have new recruits in the police services. I think it's a great profession and we are getting more people looking forward to going into police services and we can always increase that. That's what we'd like to do," he said.
Paton Controls and Constructors Senior Procurement Lead Shirley Durance, who also serves as a volunteer and secretary for the Petrolia and Enniskillen Agricultural Society, and former Petrolia Mayor John McCharles received an extension as provincial appointed members.
Lambton OPP Inspector Chris Avery welcomes the new members and said he's excited to hear everyone's thoughts as they work together to determine objectives and priorities for the detachment.
"We have always had an excellent group of community minded members on previous boards who have provided great advisement and recommendation in respect to the policing provided by the detachment and have been very engaged in the review of the policing reports provided through the detachment at each meeting, a practice that I am sure will continue with an expanded membership," Avery said.