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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-05-16, Page 17ti • ti The Chief As Chief of the Goderich police force, Pat King influen- ces the direction policing takes here. His views on law enfor- cement are firm, tempered with respect for the, public he serves. He` doesn't, think a large police force controls transient criminals better than 'a small force. Goderich police, for example are ° notified when known criminals are in the area. The other county police for- ces and the Ontario .Provincial Police trade information with Goderich and each other con- tinuously. The local force here has a ,trained identification man alsb. "My view is that an out -of-,, town, car is noticed here ' in a small community; There is less opportunity for a stranger to go unnoticed than'in a larger cen- tre", the' Chief maintains. r.. The cost of policing is rising as salaries for police' officers rise. But these higher salaries are attracting,a higher calibre of men to the profession. The cost of the Canadian Police Information Centre, a giant crime computor network which spans the country, is - high. But it gives information about stolen cars and wanted criminals in seconds..,Goderich police can telephone the local OPP detachment., where a CPIC terminal is available, and have information within a minute. Efficient identification makes the job easier for the officer patrolling a beat. ..The Canadian system of arrest also gives the officer more freedom than in the United States. Here, a superior can't override an officer'§ decision to make an arrest. Once.a charge -is laid it sticks_ Only the ' court can decide whether to dismiss it or not. Chief King does find fault with the court system though. Defense attorneys use too many delaying tactics during trials. An 'established, - hardened criminal may commit a robbery while free on bail to pay his Legal costs. There is little the police can do to prevent it, the Chief -explains. • If the criminal is- convicted and the judge cracks down on him as an example with .a harsh sentence, the case is often appealed with the judge's decision overthrown. . Young first offenders, as op- posed to the older, hardened criminals, should be helped, Chief. King says. The time to start Jehabilitating a person is when he is young. For the older cririiinal; rehabilitation is a' waste of time, he maintains. The Chief is bothered by restrictions on the wiretap doesn't help' the average citizen. It only helps the professional, organized criminal. A person has to do something drastically wrong before police can put a wiretap on his telephone. , This hampers law enforcement when .police suspect persons are trafficking in drugs or planning robberies. Chief King feels ` that the policeman, is becorning.,an im- portant social force in the com- munity. The bulk of calls to police in Goderich are requests for assistance, 'on the average, about 66 percept. Officers are often called to settle family disputes. Rarely are charges pressed after in- ve,c gations, Althou,gh • ffic�r quarrelling families should seek guidance from trained social workers, they call the police. "Police work has always been that and always will be", the Chief says. To cope witb,thts role, police officers, are ' receiving better' training. They needit as more policemen are hurt answering calls from fighting families - than those who arrive on the scenes of bank robberies. The Chief believes in good public relations with the public. He encourages Goderich police of`'icers to,chat with the public (luring patrols. He has organized programs at Goderich District Collegiate In- stitute which put officers on the Sgt. George Bacon Sgt..Mery Witter Small town. police make good friends Sgt. George Bacon was born and ,raised in Wingham, just a few.omiles north of Goderich. He is married and has one son and two daughters. He becaine a police officer because he enjoys working with people and assisting them with polide protection of life and property. d 4, P / 14b - Montreal Street, ogcs. Goderich. , Qn arlo X54 k hotseat to answer questions from students. Chief King is. a firm believer in understanding and the wisdom of Sir Robert Peel, the world's first professional policeman, who said, ' "The police are the people and the people are the police." oberttjj GNAL-S 127 YIAR 20 THURS,DAY, MAY 16, 1974 .SECOND SESTION e tops A salute the Godqrich Police Force Constable Larry Webb was born., and raised in Tpronto where he lived until last Year . He is married "and has two ' He became a police officer partly *because of the.,influence of a friend who belonged to the Royal Canadian Arounted Policb. When the company he worked, for went bankrupt he rained the Metropolitan Toronto Police force; in 1970. He came to Goderich in the spring of 197'3 because of his family responSibilities. ,He says that housing was too expensive in Toronto for him to afford and he didn't w -ant to raise bis. children there. Although he termed his work in Toronto exciting, Constable Webb says a police officer can get to know pediple in Goderich. In Toronto he rarely saW the same person twice. He likes the` persOnal contact with the pbblic here. He enjoys public relations work which he has to do All the think I was fair and didn't treat anyone unjustly:" Sgt. Bacon says, His first job as a policeman was in Goderich. He joined the force November 21, 1961. -He wanted to be a policeman and when he heard of the opening, here he applied. Sergeant Merv, Witter .was born and raised in Jamaica. He is married and. has/one son. Law enforcement was. a challenging career for Sergeant Witter and he enjoyed the thought of being able tO do his share of helping the citizens of the community in" whiCh he until he joined the town, force in September, 1972, The main reason he became "liked working with people". • Constable Jarczak left the OPP because he didn't want to • be transferred, possibly to a large city. Hefinds policing in Goderich allowing him to become more involved 'with the community.. He finds his ,contact with citizens greSter than when he • was an OPP officer. is safetv.,He,says it allows him to ,cornhine art with policing.0 He alSo' enjoys "working with, 14e finds the public easy to work with and eager . to . cooperate With police. It stems from the 'personal contact the police and public have in Goderich, he maintains. Personal achievement is not — as important to Constable Jere- zak Aer matters are. "I don't. care what level I. reach as long as the idea of safety instilled in the Const. John Hills A bit of Scotland Yard is' on the.Gpderich Poli,ce force in the form of Constable' John Hills,' He was. born arid , raised. in England. He .is married and has one child. - His interest in policing came when he compared it to the monotony of . work in. factories and stores, .He likes the varied assignments polieing offers. His firoirjob-Was with New Scotlarid Vard.- He then joined the London, Ont., police force, , when he moved to Canada. He, joined the Goderich• force in April, 1973. There: was an opening here and he preferred a small town police,force over one in a large Police officers get to meet the public mbre in a small town. he Constible Hills specializes in traffic safety and accident in- vestigation. He ',has training o and knowledge in sa'fety, pollution and rescue work. The' majority of 'people in Goderich are appreciative of , , police accomplish,' he 'v His goal as a policeman is to get involved witt,,,ri criminal in- •vestigation and continue in motor safety and rescue work. „standards • and be responsible enough to meet. them, Con- stable 'Hills, maintains. ° and as well equipped as any force of its size in existence. He maintains that more -towns in Ontario should put more em- phasis on this aspect .of their .policing needs. Identification. photography, fingerprinting and physical cnatching are the areas of speciA training for Constable Rtixton. He enjoys the work and compares it to fitting a jigsaw puzzle together. He cites a broken tail light lens as an example. All 'the piece's are ' photographed and ,, fitted together to match it to the car it belonged to. He finds the majority Of Goderich residents'appreciative of their police although sOme get upset when he is enforcing a Keeping up with 4he times is important ta :Constable ton.- He feels that' constant training and improvement is required by policemen if they are to be effective. "The biggest goal for me is improving and niaintaining my profesSional and personal ,relationship with the .youth in Goderich", he says.' Sgt. Bacon feel's' that the small Goderich for.ce allows more personal contact -with people than a big city force! would allow. The police offieers are mOre highly respected here, Chief Pat King legal Aid which has become ti profitable business, for many 'lawyers. The aid -services professional criminals; says. -. This bothers policemen. The frustration, however, does nNot lead to corniption on .police for- ces in Canada. A recent law concerning wiretaps also bothers the Chief. The law whidh places harsh Officers make friends with people as well as to deal with them professionally. He likes to specialize in all aspects of safety, but always remembers hi'sif three main duties as a police officer, 'Ttrotection of people and criminals and ehforcement of the law. Sgt. Bacon, also gets satisfac--. Hon from criminal in- vestigatiow,which end in the " apprehenSion .of criminals. He terms it "a challenge". He finds the public in Goderich easy to -work with. Citizens tend to uphold their ltis goal as 'a policeman is just to do his job well. "At -the end of a shift I like.to His career began in the office of the Janiaican• POlice doing paper work. Bored with• that, he joined the Commissioner's Special Raiding Squad where he spent- 18 months raiding premises suspected of drug dealing, gAmbling and prostitution. From there he • moved 'to Criminal In- vestigation aiding detectives and then was promoted to detect.ivy, working• in that position fOr two years befoye coming' to Canada. 14e arrived ib Goderich several weeks after his wife was directed here by friends in Toronto. He applied for a job sold insuran e hire waiting for an opening. Sergeant Witter enjoys the personal contact he has with the people °he works for. He feels more a member ,of the community and enjoys ‘'vorking on a first name basis, especially with the youth. "ost. Larry Webb-, time on a small town force. He also enjoys drug investigation, but adds that . it is hard to, specialize'because of ,force's small size. • The public here is cooperative with police, Con- , stable Webb says. He feels one reason, is because officers have personal contact with people and are not.just uniforms with numbers. He says his 'goal as a - ,policeman is to be good at his job: A policeman must be im- partial and not judge people. His responsibility is to bring suspected offenders to court where a judge can --,decide. 4 o Criminal Investigatiop. is Sergeant. Witter's specialty. He „received training and gairrec14-' experience in this line While in Jamaica. A 10 -week course, - . taken while with the Jamaican Police gave him a guideline to approaching and solvim_many different cases he may encoun- ter. Const. Tom. Fortner The founder of the, Huron County Bicycle Rodeo,., Con- stable Tom Fortner was born in Toronto and brought up in Port, Hope. He is married and has no children. Constable Fortner's family has a history of police work. His father and nine of his un- cles are all policemp and he and his brother followed suit.. A 13 -year veteran of the Goderich force, Constable Fort- ner bears badge number one as senior constable. His policing career began in Uxbridge -On- tario, but he moved to Goderich soon after joining that department 'because he missed the small town life. - Working. 'in Goderich has made Cpriistable Fortner able to meet great deal of people. He Jeers' that by establishing a good working relationship with the public the job. will be a lot . more effective and much easier. Traffi safety consumed eight years or Constable Fnrtner's 11 -years in Goderich. He foun-,,„ ded the Huron County Bicycle Rodeo, received the Kinsmen's Certificate of Appreciation and spoke at a safety dinner as for-' mer mayor, Drl. Frank Mill's appointed "Mayor for a Dav" ' Constable Fortner believes' the residents of Goderich ap- preciate their policemen and adds that any effort shown by the public is more than ap- preciated by the police Corce. The ability to take orders is the first step in becoming • a good officer .according to Con- stable Fortner. He maintains that one has to be able to take orders before he can give them. He is happy . to serve on the Goderich force. which° he feels' fights hardest when the goings toughest. His goal as police officer is to he a first class constable, loyal to the department on which he serves. Pictutes and stories bg 'Bill Dimmick Jeff Seddoo Sergeant Witter enjoys what he terms a very good relation- ship with the . Goderich residents. He feels that ,his work is Appreciated by the Maintaining comnitnication with' the community as Sergeo„,nt Vitter, He es to department and-,pn his own to keep' abreast -6( things. He hopes to tiike adVitntage every opportunity for everything possible to fulfill 111V ,duties as a -policeman", cier! Coast. Tom Jarczalc The creator of Oh -No, the un- safe thing, COnstable Tom Jarc- zak, was born in Germany. He came t'o Canada with his parents, when he waskthree and' wits raised mostly in' Toronto, He is married. Constable Jarczak was a commercial artist for a yeti r but •he always wanted to be a policeman. He joined the On- tario Provincial 'Police in 1971 anci was stationed. in Goderich Const. John Buxton Const. George Lonsbary Constable George Lonsbarv was born in Nanaimo, B.C., but he was -raised in tobacco coun-' ley near Tillsonburg Ont. -He is married and has two girls, • Constable Lonsbary became a police officer, because he,en- joyS working with the public. The work interests him because "every day is.different". lie began his.career in ,June, 1,p68. in Nor.wich. In December, 1973_ he Joined \the Goderich police force. He applied for a job here when he ,saw there was an opening bekause he likes tilt greit. Enjoyable summer holidays- in Huron and Bruce counties made•the area attrac- tive enough that he and his family wanted .to move to this part of the province. Constable John Ruxton is a lifetime resident of the, area being born and raised "in Port Elgin He is married and has Policing is what 'Constable Ruxton has .been interested in since he 'Wits it bov. His first job .was in 1962, on the Goderich force where he stayed until years but remained in contact with poticemen as an insurance. adjustor. In 1970 he returned,' Goderich to pursue the career he alWays loved. Constable Ruxton speaks ahout the Goderich force with pride. He feels that Chief .Pat King's men are as well trajned Policing in Goderich is about the same as everywhere,' Con- stable Lonsbary maintains: although he admits some departments -might be a little. busier than others. is interested in all aspects of policing. "At this trine, there is no area I want to specialize in I wirn-i. to do my best at whatever happens to pop up", lie says. Public cooperation with the police is good in Goderich, ac- cording to Constable•LprisbarY ambition as a'police of- ficer is to do his beSt tfo matter what rank or position he may attain. •