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The Huron Expositor, 1994-12-07, Page 24 2 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, D•c•mb•r 7, 11W4 Close-up Government regulations strain policing BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff Society may be in turmoil elsewhere but Seaforth hasn't changed much in the last two decades from a rural town police chief's perspective. "It is my opinion that policing is a service that we should measure by the lack of crime," says Chief Hal Claus. "We are still service-oriented, (almost) the only service in a small community that is 24 hours, but more and more of our work -load seems to be putting out little fires; such things as domestic relations and labour disputes." What has changed, according to the chief, is increasing pressures on small town forces such as Seaforth from governments that act as if charters and legislation are always the answer to all our ills. "As a society we seem to be totally obsessed by trying to introduce legislation, that in many cases only ends up creating loopholes for lawyers and a way in which the majority can be attacked by applying such things as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," says Chief Claus, "where most situations could be solved by communication." He has been a policeman for 32 years. He was bom in Holland but grew up in Scarborough on the land that is now the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo, and used to play Cowboys and Indians on a farm where the wolves are now penned. Chief Claus, 54, spent nine and one-half years as a constable with the Toronto police, then was out of HAL CLAUS... SEAFORTH POLICE CHIEF the profession for two years before becoming a constable with the Ontario Provincial Police at Goderich for the next seven and one-half. He is in his 14th year as Seaforth chief, arriving here in June 1981. "People kill people, not guns," he says, again questioning the wisdom of yet more "progressive" legislation and paper work to alter our imperfections. "There is a sense of security here in Seaforth that bigger centres don't have," he comments, and policing often involves more common sense in a small town than in larger municipalities. Chief Claus feels Seaforth is less violent now than it was 20 years ago when bar fights and brawls at the main intersection were a more re occurrence. He also agrees and driving kills fewer around here nowadays than in did in the 1970s and 80s, but whether the change is due to legislation, tougher enforcement, higher insurance rates or social attitudes is anybody's guess. Fewer patronize hotels, but there are still many who drink and drive around Seaforth and they don't get noticed as often as in the cities, because of fewer accidents with the lower traffic densities on rural back roads and our small town streets. Not all new laws and legislation are ineffective, Chief Claus says. For instance it is now easier to protect the victims of domestic disputes, in many cases women and children, because in the old days of common assault it was these victims who 'had to go to their mother's', now the threat can more easily be isolated and indicted. "It has been a great help," he says. "The perception of crime in the minds of people is always more than the reality," Chief Claus says. "Society finds it very easy to find fault with police officers." This is even more the case in a town like Seaforth with four officers policing a population of 2,400, he adds, and is a heavy burden on this very visible small force and its families. It often seems there are eight eyes looking one way and 4,800 the other. "Canadians are a freedom -loving people" and simply being stopped by a police officer often "raises the hairs on their necks", Chief Claus says. Less time on the street and far OPP patrols decline in number Seaforth's police chief is not alone expressing his concern and observing that today's complexity of new rules and regulations are cutting into time better spent on the beat. Provincial Auditor Erik Peters says the proportion of time 'the Ontario Provincial Police spends on routine patrol duty has fallen sharply the past five years. In his report to the legislature last month the auditor noted the amount of time that OPP constables and sergeants in the field devoted to patrols fell to 16 per cent of 6.1 million hours worked in 1993 from 36 percent of 6.6 million hours worked in 1989. The auditor also noted the amount LEANNE WHITMORE ...lots of calls Local woman runs agricultural phone information service Leanne Whitmore, a summer student at BASF Canada, has been appointed fulltime to staff a new communications service. As a summer student the Seaforth-area native fielded 50 to 60 calls per day at the peak of spraying this past summer as dealers and farmers doublechecked everything from label rates to proper spraying times. With the new toll-free infoline she will provide information on crop protection at planting and spraying time. The number is 1- 800-565-9586. She - grew up on a 200 -acre cash crop farm near Seaforth and later graduated from the Univer- sity of Guelph with a Bachelor of Commerce in Agricultural Business. Governments approve funds for Tuckersmith works Two projects worth $268,500 were approved for the Township of Tuckersmith under the Canada/Ontario Infrastructure Works program, lluron-Bruce MP Paul Stecklc, Huron MPP Paul Klopp, and Reeve William Camochan announced on Nov. 24. Funding of $168,500 will be used to reconstruct water and storm sewers on Quebec Street, resurface Vanastra Road, and install and inspect new services on Andrew Court. The remaining $100,000 will be used to improve storm drain- age and resurface William Street in the hamlet of Egmondville. f of time spent on obligatory duties such as responding to occurrences, for instance crimes or traffic accidents, related report writing and court attendance rose to 45 per cent of their time from 38 per cent. These shifts in work patterns have had an impact, Peters added, noting that despite an increase in reportable automobile accidents from 1988 to 1992, the OPP now spends less time on traffic programmes. Hours for impaired driving -enforcement have fallen by 24 per cent on regular patrol and by more than 50 per cent for RIDE programmes. The number of Highway Traffic Act charges per constable fell 45 per cent from 1988 t'o 1992 and the number of Criminal Code traffic charges per constable fell by 24 per cent. Although social -contract cutbacks accounted for a portion of the decline in patrolling hours, the auditor noted that other factors, such as absenteeism, also played a role. In 1993 the average rate of OPP absenteeism was 11 days per person, translating into a total of 350,000 lost hours at a cost of $11.6 -million. Computers also eat up time. The, report adds when the OPN. introduced computerized police reports in the early 1990s the amount of time officers spent writing reports rose sharply. more paperwork are a legacies from our politicians of the past two decades, the Seaforth police chief observes. He uses the now mandatory complaints bureau under the 1990 Police Services Act as an example. An Ontario commissioner now requires that once a complaint is filed a response must follow within 10 days, and regular progress reports of the ongoing investigation must be filed. If you're writing reports then you're less visible and not on the beat. In the same vein, time and human resources are stretched thinner dealing with things like employment equity and a race relations policy, also now musts. Such social engineering, however well intended, often poorly considers the realities of policing small rural communities, the chief says. No matter how the current question of local police force versus OPP service ends up, Seaforth is going to have to spend more complying with these ongoing government regulations he notes, Now we have one jail cell, for instance, but soon we must have three; one for men and the others for women and young offenders. Why the generalized move across the province away from local forces and towards the OPP? Chief Claus believes the financial crunch is the biggest reason, but feels the apparent loss of local autonomy is also a culprit. "I believe that Local politicians believe they have lost control because of all the new standards forced on them by Queen's Park," the chief says. Local moves to policing by OPP Six municipalities in Ontario have switched or are in the process of switching from local policing to an OPP service. They are St. Marys, Mount Forest, Milverton, Exeter, Kincardine and Petrolia. At least a half-dozen other municipalities, ,including Seaforth, are considering the switch. The others are Clinton, - Goderich, Tavistock, Strathroy pj_. and Norwich. Huron joins info -age On a recent week day the Huron County Board of Education stayed at home in Clinton but still had a conference. Innovative video- conferencing technology was used to link approximately 100 participants scattered at four sites across the province on Nov. 24, who zeroed in on the topic of parental involvement in schools. Tne public school teachers' federation, with guests representing the Ministry of Education and Training, a parents' council, as well as county boards of education from Lanark, Nipissing find Huron interacted with one another using Bell Canada's Videoforum Dial Up Multipoint programme. Karen Kirk, from Goderich high school's parent advisory group, said an advisory group does not take the place of the home and school association, but works with it and the school for the students' benefit. 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