REFLECTIONS ON THE 2018-2020 BUSINESS PLAN

Over the last three years the Port Hope Police Service has seen the world around us transform with significant scrutiny being placed on police service delivery models, our response to individuals in mental health crisis, police use of force, budgets (defunding), our own member's mental well-being as well our connections to our stakeholders and various segments of our community.

While addressing the multi-faceted issues listed above we have made great strides in accomplishing the priorities that were laid out before us in 2018. We succeeded in bringing about an agreement between the PHPS and the local hospital to better address the lengthy times spent in the hospital for mental health related calls. We have invested significantly in the Health IM software to assist in speeding up the process while giving not only our officers more insight to the crisis but also to the medial staff once the patient is at the hospital. All of these new processes have driven wait times in the hospital down significantly while providing the best possible support for those in need. We have made significant investments into remote speed sensing and monitoring equipment which has been utilized throughout the municipality to assist us in maintaining road safety.

Our Community Engagement Unit was formed and has made excellent strides in forging new relationships within the community while building bridges between multiple organizations and sectors within our broader community. This unit regularly has made presentations to many community groups and students in an effort to make our community more resilient to fraud, bullying, cyber-bullying, scams, illicit drugs, elder abuse and much more.

Our officers over the last few years have been deployed to meet the needs of the community with respect to the Ganaraska River waterway fishery. In the past the municipality and the service received scores of complaints due to the misuse, abuse and violations of the rules that govern the proper harvesting of fish during the appropriate seasons. Since that initial request for assistance was received our officers have been trained and deployed during those fishing seasons and unfortunately, many charges have been laid on violators. Every year our officers have conducted hundreds of hours of foot patrol and surveillance on the river which we are happy to report has resulted in a vastly improved situation.

We have forged a new training relationship with the Cobourg Police Service and now routinely and exclusively train with them for Use of Force, Conducted Energy Weapon, Pistol, and C8 Carbine re-qualifications. This has been an excellent partnership which has allowed our front-line staff to train with our own people as well as those who we are most likely to back up in an emergency.

Our Criminal Investigations Bureau has established regular operations with the Cobourg Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police while dealing with organized crime and its direct offspring, the illicit drug trade. The team has had many successes in this area taking a significant amount of drugs, cash obtained by crime and firearms off of our streets. This has been in concert with the unit giving our police service a substantially more comprehensive investigative ability for other major crimes that occur in our municipality. Our skills augmentation program which puts less experienced officers into our Criminal Investigations Bureau for a period of one year, has shown great success in honing the essential competencies of our junior officers while being mentored by more seasoned veterans. When these officers return to the road they are far more capable and skilled.

All in all, the Port Hope Police has met or exceeded the majority of the priorities as laid out for us in 2018 while meeting head-on the new challenges and demands that our society is now wanting us to examine as we move forward into our new Business Plan.