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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.