HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1987-11-25, Page 11144:01WOR HE ' 1.1 H i AML D HE R.el F'IEI.I) Ill Q.l.h:
No. 46
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1987
i
BAZAAR
TREASURES
rin Maaskant, of Colborne Township,
ound the dolls created by Hilda Jackson of
Clinton to be of some interest. Mrs.
ackson was showing her dolls at the
anastra Lioness Bazaar on November 21
hile Erin was taking in the crafts. At right,
rianne Green (left) discusses the crafts
reated by Pat Green. They too made it
rough the inclement weather to the
anastra Recreation Centre. (Anne
hishohn photos)
County police communications
systems is minus one town
The Town of Wingham's decision to pull
out of the Huron County Police Com-
munications system may have detrimen-
tal effects on both the cost and effec-
tiveness of the policing system in all five
Huron County towns, according to
Goderich Police Chief Patrick King.
"Technically, although we are five
distinct police forces, our commuications
network makes us one big force," Kings
said, Thursday, in response to Wingham's
announcement at a meeting in Goderich on
Nov. 17, that they will pull out of the Huron
system as of April 1, 1988.
King said he does not expect the decision
to have a large impact on policing in
Goderich directly, however, in certain
cases it will make neccessary interaction
between forces in separate towns difficult_
Such situations as inter -town car chases
and prisoners escaping while being
transferred between detention facilities in
different towns, are two examples of times
when the various forces need to be in con-
tact with each other.
With the five forces operating on the
same frequency, officers on duty in all
towns can hear all radio broadcasts made
to and by officers in the other five. With
Wingham out of the system, officers in
vehicles needing to contact Wingham
police will either have to switch to the pro-
vincial common channel, thereby cutting
off radio contact with the Huron System,
or have the Goderich dispatcher contact
the dispatcher in Hanover, to get in touch
with Wingham police.
"I realize that would only take a matter
of minutes or seconds, but there are situa-
tions where a delay of seconds can be
vital," said King.
Cost i$ the main factor in Wingham's
decsion to switch to the Hanover -based
Bruce County system, according to the
town's Mayor Jack Kopas. The town has a
budget of about $300,000 for policing and
was seeking to reduce that figure.
Goderich Administrator Larry McCabe,
who acts as secretary for the local Police
Commission which administrates the
county communications system, said the
commission expected a 2.3 per cent in -
cease in the system's overall net expenses
after revenue, which totalled $154,000 last
year. Wingham's projected share for 1988
would have been around $22,000, represen-
ting 15 per cent of the cost. Individual
towns are assessed costs on a per person
basis, with Goderich currently paying
about 38 per cent; Clinton, 16; Seaforth 11;
Exeter 19 and Wingham 15.
In published reports, Wingham Police
Commission Chairman Fred McGee has
stated the town has no complaints about
the service received from the Huron
system, but said Wingham could receive
the same service from Hanover for about
$11,000.
Wingham's share of the cost will now
have to be divided among the four remain-
ing municipalities in the system, unless
new users, such as fire departments and
Public Utilities Commissions in the
various towns can be brought into the
system. The Goderich PUC is one such
organization that is considering joing the
system.
"I think it's unfortunate, when we've
worked so closely as a five force operation
and it (Wingham's pull out) weakens it for
the the others,"
Town of Clinton prepares
for the Opportunities Tour
CLINTON - A meeting took place on
November 19 at town hall here for the Op-
portunities Tour which will take place in
September.
According to Ken Bowden, Senior
Business Consultant for the Ministry of In-
dustry, Trade and Technology (MITT) the
last time a similar tour took place in
Eastern Ontario, the end result was $10
million of investment in the area.
The purpose of the Opportunities Tour is
to bring investors from outside of Canada to
Ontario cities and towns to show them the
investment opportunities outside the large
metropolitan areas (Toronto and
Hamilton) .
In September 1988, approximately 40 in-
vestors from the United States and possibly
France and Germany will spend eight to 10
days touring five counties including Huron.
The tour is taking place as the result of co-
operation between municipal, county and
the provincial governments.
The role of the local government is to iden-
tify business prospects that are financially
responsible and viable. They must also pro-
mote their community through brochures.
The role of the county is to organize the
municipalities in their area and to act as a
liason to the provicial government.
The provincial government's MITT
organizes the investors and reviews the
business plans sent in by the municipalities
The business plans are economically
viable projects that require investments.
The plans can be for an existing business or
a new venture. The business plan is
thorough, it covers all aspects of the
business from the management organiza-
tion of the business to how much of a return
the investor will receive. The plans are sent
to MITT by the municipality and are then
reviewed and scrutinized to ensure their
feasibility.
The business plans sent in by the
municipality are the result of information
aquired through councils, committees,
municipal officials, clerks and the public.
The information from these sources can also
be used for the town's promotional brochure
which should include: a list of industries,
commerce, industrial land available and
services as well as pictures of the area,
history and sights of interest.
"The importance of the brochures is to
make the community look good," said Cindy
Fisher of the Huron County Planning
Department. "It's important to give the im-
pression of an organized and not disorganiz-
ed community."
Fisher also stated that the brochures must
be accurate, the information in them cur-
rent and to avoid extreme gimics. As well, a
message from the mayor or reeve lends
credibility to the brochure.
The cost of the brochure depends on the
format used by the town. Different formats
include: a pamphlet, a folder which includes
individual information sheets or if the
brochure is to include color. The cost of the
brochure is to be financed by the town and
partially by a county assistance program.
Other costs for the tour include accom-
modation which is the responsibility of the
county. Huron County has already approved
the allocation of funds for this. The
transportation costs of the tour are being
looked after by the provincial government.
Each member of the tour must pay their
own transportation costs to get to Ontario.
"The tour is a very cost effective way of
advertising your community," said Gary
Davidson, Director of Planning and
Development for Huron County. "It has
always been difficult to get interest (in in-
vestment) in Huron County. The tour tries to
connect business people. Hopefully there
will be some investment."
So far, Mr. Bowden of MITT has been,
"thrilled with the response from Huron
County." He says that the group of investors
targeted for the tour are primarly from the
United States. These are the business people
in the U.S. who have to renew their business
Turn to page 3 -
Crime Stoppers - Coming to Huron County
By Anne Chisholm
HURON COUNTY - You've probably
seen it on your television, perhaps you've
read about it in a daily newspaper, well get
ready, it's coming to Huron County.
A different approach has recently been
taken in an attempt to solve crimes and cut
down on the amount of criminal activity in
communities. This approach involves
telephone calls from community residents
to police officers. In short, the program is
Crime Stoppers.
"We're doing it for our communities. We
want to make them safer," explained OPP
Constable Jeff Sabin during an informa-
tion meeting on November 18.
What Is Crime Stoppers
According to a pamphlet on Crime Stop-
pers, it is a "non-profit program relying on
co-operation between the police force,
news media and members of your com-
munity. Crime Stoppers encourages peo-
ple to call the police with information to
solve any serious crimes already commit-
ted, those about to occur and/or the
whereabouts of wanted persons."
One of the five guest speakers during the
evening was Murray Smart, Chairman of
the Owen Sound, Grey Bruce Crime Stop-
per program, who told the audience that
the three components are vital to the
program.
"The pollee, media and community
must work together...without co-
operation, the program wouldn't work,"
he said.
If a person has information that fits the
above criteria, Crime Stoppers offers
them a way to pass the informaion on to
the police, never having to identify
themselves.
A toll free number is usually made
available for callers. When they phone,
they are assigned a code number which
wilt be used to identify themselves in
future dealings with Crime Stopper
personnel.
"You need the 1-800 (toll free) number
forpe oFle who are caning n from out -lying
areas. You want the people to remain
anonymous and not have to pay," said Mr.
Smart, whose Crime Stoppers program
does have a toll free number. "In Huron
County you have a wide geographic area
so a toll free Watts number would be
great."
Another feature of the program is that a
cash reward may be awarded to the caller.
"Based on the value of information
received, the caller may get up to $1,000
with the Grey Bruce Crime Stoppers pro-
gram," said Mr. Smart.
Crirne Stoppers is operated by a group of
citizens who make up the board of direc-
tors. When the Huron County program
starts, it is hoped the board members will
number 15.
"We have 11 potential board members
now," said Mr. Sabin, police co-ordinator.
These members have been recommend-
ed by people of the community, have had
the program explained to them, are "in
good standing with the community" and
are a general cross section of
communities.
Funding
Crime Stoppers is incorporated as a
charitable organization, therefore they
must solicit the money they require for
their operation, including the money for
rewards.
"Our board of directors is divided into
comrnittess," said Mr. Smart. "One com-
mittee deals with advertising then there's
public relations, then guidelines as well as
fund raising."
As an example of what the fund raising
committee does, Mr. Smart told of the Fly-
ing Fathers hockey game they put on with
the co-operation of another charity.
The advertising committee looks after
brochures, business cards, posters and
hats (which are being used as a fund rais-
ing project).
"We don't use tax dollars...donations are
used," Mr. Smart explained. "We try to
get everything donated.
"The posters were donated by a printer
and the newspapers donate space to run
the Crime of the "eek."
SOLVE A CRIME ANONYMOUSLY
EARN A CASH REWARD
The guidelines committee sets the
amount which should be handed out as
rewards.
Who Calls
It has been discovered that there is a
60-40 split between criminal callers and
concerned citizens. Sixty per cent of the in-
formers are of the criminal type while 40
per cent are average people.
"Forty per cent are average citizens
who don't want to get involved and don't
want the c. iminal coming after them,"
said Mr. Smart. "They could be mothers
who are concerned about drug pushing."
Who Answers
Using the Grey Bruce Crime Stoppers
program as an example once again, Dave
Osborne, advisor to the board of directors
and also a member of the OPP in-
vestigating squad, said the phones are
manned during office hours, Monday to
Friday.
The person the caller gets is a police
officer.
Program Is Spreading
Another speaker was Howard Wright,
co-ordinator of the province's OPP Crime
Stoppers. He told the audience that each of
the OPP districts should have a Crime
Stoppers program in it by the summer of
1988.
"OPP involvement (in Crime Stoppers)
started one year ago this month," he said.
"Each of the 16 districts should have a pro-
gram by summer.
"If you see the OPP getting that involv-
ed in a program in one year, it must
work."
Statistics
The best way to gage the effectiveness of
a program is to look at the statistics -
number of phone calls and the number of
cases solved because of the phone calls.
In Grey Bruce, the program started on
May 15 and from that date to October 31,
the OPP have made 18 arrests, placed 60
charges and cleared 50 cases with 120 calls
to Crime Stoppers.
As for drugs, they were able to recovet
$1,780 worth as well as $5,300 in stolen pro-
perty. For this, they paid $800 in rewards.
"We're extremely satisfied," said Mr.
Osborne.
One case he told about happened in July
and involved five arsons during one night.
"I worked on it for a week and I was on
the wrong trail. Then a call came in to
Crime Stoppers who told who they (ar-
sonists) were," Mr. Osborne explained.
"That eliminated a lot of work.
"1 went to the person (who was named)
and laid 15 charges of arson."
In all, that one phone call led to 17
charges of arson and one mischief charge.
Cal Miller, a crime writer for the Toron-
to Star and a member of the International
Board of Crime Stoppers, gave statistics
Oil the Toronto program which started in
1984.
"For the first month, we literally had no
stats. By the end of the year, we couldn't
believe the results," Mr. Miller said.
From July 1984 to October 31, 1987, 2,970
charges were laid; $1.6 -million in stolen
property was recovered; $'.6.1 -million
(street value) worth of drugs were seized
because of 11,194 calls to Crime Stoppers.
Huron County Crime Stoppers
Mr. Sabin, who has been working on set-
ting up Huron County's Crime Stopper pro-
gram for approximately one month, hopes
to have all the loose ends tied up by mid-
March so the program can begin.
"It will be similar to the Grey Bruce pro-
gram, offering a $50 - $1,000 reward," Mr.
Sabin said.
One difference he foresees is the
operating budget. Presently Grey Bruce is
working with a $15,000 - $20,000 budget
while Huron's would be approximately
$10,000.
Because the Huron Crime Stopper pro-
gram is for the entire county, Mr. Sabin
said the central location of Clinton has
been chosen as their headquarters,
operating out of a room in the Clinton
Police Department.