Wellington County Ward 4 councillor Lynda White was at Centre Wellington council on Oct. 26 to update local council members on her activity at Wellington County.
White notes Ward 4 takes in part of Centre Wellington and much of Wellington North towards Lake Belwood – “it is the largest geographic area, but the second smallest in population within the county.”
White noted she has been a Wellington County councillor pretty much since amalgamation.
“For the past 15 years, I have taken part in every single committee,” said White, who currently chairs the police services board and is a member of the social services committee.
County policing service
In terms of the OPP provision of policing for Wellington County, White provided a copy of Police Inspector Scott Lawson’s report with statistics on various issues.
White spoke specifically on programs put in place in Wellington County.
“We’ve been very proactive in Wellington County with our policing.”
She noted an automated licence plate reader (ALPR) which was initiated in the county in 2014.
“It is a sophisticated licence plate scanning tool which uses infra-red illumination which captures the plates at the front and the back of the vehicle.”
White said the system is capable of scanning thousands of plates per hour and checks them in real time against the Ontario Ministry of Transportation database of plates in poor standing.
Since implementation and with a fully-marked cruiser a year ago, White said there have been trained officers operating the equipment for about 761 hours throughout all seven municipalities.
“This specialized equipment has been a tremendously positive tool for our officers.”
She added this is one of the tools which allows Wellington County to continue to be one of the safest communities in Canada.
“This equipment has allowed officers to look beyond the initial violation and uncover additional criminal activity.”
She noted that in at least four instances in Wellington County, the equipment was able to allow officers to issue four warrants for wanted individuals in Ontario.
Project Lifesaver
Another new program – Project Lifesaver – came to the county in 2014.
“It is dedicated to assisting and responding to the challenges of caregivers of finding wandering loved ones who suffer from Alzheimers, autism or other forms of cognitive impairment.
Participants in the program wear a battery-operated bracelet and a wrist transmitter which broadcasts a specific radio signal 24-hours each day.
“When a caregiver notifies the OPP that a client has gone missing, specially-trained police officers used the portable directional antenna to search for and locate the missing person.”
White said Project Lifesaver is not a replacement for the supervision of caregivers but a valuable tool to save lives and reduce the enormous expense generated by long and arduous searches.
Since implementing the program every search has been successful within 30 minutes.
White quipped, “we have been told that parents cannot use this to keep track of their teenagers.”
Project IMPACT
White also spoke of IMPACT the Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team.
The program implemented by the Wellington County OPP and the Canadian Mental Health Association provides integrated mobile police and crisis services.
“It allows crisis workers with Canadian Mental Health to work alongside OPP officers when dealing with calls dealing with addictions or mental health issues.”
White said these crisis workers will go along with the police officers.
“Wellington County OPP is one of the first detachments in the province to offer full in-house mobile crisis response capabilities.”
The funding for the project comes through the local LHIN.
Deer collisions
White mentioned the numerous car-deer collisions this time of year.
“It’s basically a be aware campaign” so drivers know where the deer are.
This year alone, White said there have been 175 such accidents since September – 39 of those in Centre Wellington.
Moving ahead
White said there should be additional programs coming on line next year. One of these is the community bicycle program. She said residents should expect to see officers out on the trail or other locations.
White added there are numerous programs which operate over and above policing – such as having police officers in local high schools, the new canine unit and the marine unit.
