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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-04-04, Page 15the WeeIdy bpm y towel Banner. Wloghani Advance - Times anti, leant :,Forest Cie• deride is read by .set the "heartland et Midwelstern Ontario. t Based en 3.5 readers laeach of 8.380 homes.) he man b hat makes Published every week in The Listowel Banner, The Wingham Advance -Times and The ,Wont Forest Confederate by Wenger Bros. Limited. --Crossroads—April 4, 1974-- ,n • 97 4. ehe badge: his job hard? Some • call him " m n". Many call him "cop".And a ew refer to him as a police offi er. He is universal. His beat, his tactics, his attitude are variable, depending on where he is, who he its, what he thinks. But one thing remains the same whether he walks into a crime -in- fested neighborhood in New York City or steps onto the streets of Listowel, Wingham or Mount Fo- rest. His objective is to police his district. It . sounds like a fairly simple, cut and dried chore. Policing. But, thepublic he has to police throws curves at him. Maybe they don't want to get involved. Maybe it's something else. And, the force itself iii limited, in some cases, by its equipment - or lack of it. The Listowel Town Police, for example, work with one cruiser, while the rate of occurrences in- creased in the town from 791 in 1968, to 2,814 in 1973. Listowel's Police Chief, Wil- liam Sachs, a policeman of 24 years experience, says one cruiser "just isn't sufficient". "I use my own automobile for duty work but I think that will have to change and we may be forced to get another cruiser," he DISCUSSING ALTERNATIVES—Listowel Police Chief William Sachs discusses policing problems with Constable Robert Cadiou. Said Chief Sachs, "We have three choices when we talk of a town with a population under 15,000. Our first alternative is to amalgamate three small towns into a department that polices a population of more than 15,000 but each town retains its police office. A second alternative is to amalgamate with a larger centre such as Owen Sounder Stratford. The third is to turn the policing over to the Ontario Pro- vincial Police." Of the three alternatives, Chief Sachs said he would prefer the first. —Photo by Vanderlee said. • Listowel is the largest of the three towns with a population of 4,880. The Mount Forest Town Police also have a transportation prob- lem, but not because they don't have enough cruisers. They would settle for one! . They are currently -using a.four wheel drive jeep. Police Chief Ardell McIntyre says it "has a purpose; but not as a police cruiser." He says it is great for heavy du • work over rugged terrains buttown streets do not exactly fit into that category. He recently made a request for a new cruiser and the matter is being looked into by the bylaws and legislation committee of the Mount Forest Town Council. Chief McIntyre says there is "no drawback as far as the;rest of the department's equipment is concerned." The Wingham Town Police are, • perhaps, the best equipped of the three forces, working with two radio -equipped cruisers, two .portable "walkie-talkies" and a base radio with an extension to a private home. Chief Jim Miller is satisfied with his. department's equip- ment. "We feel Ave have modern equipment, an excellent, * new headquarters building antike` evenhave a gymnasfuoi, so er -!- are no problems here that way." His manpower is also "t`suffi- cient at the present time", with a sergeant, two first-class con- stables, one probationary con- stable and two part-time police- men: The other two departments, however, are not quite as lucky. Chief Sachs of Listowel is "making a strong request for another man because of the terri- fic increase in our workload over the past few years." At present, Listowel has six police officers. The chief says, "Our population has grown sub- stantially since 1968, however, we're having more occurrences per 100 people today than we did back then. "One incident might take three weeks to investigate," he says, "while another may require only thirty minutes of our time." While he is requesting another man, he says his -workload in- crease is such that it would. sub- stantiate "the fact that we could really use two more men on the job." Most of the work is accom- plished through overtime hours, he added. How about manpower require- ments for Mount Forest? "Yes, we need another man," says Chief McIntyre, "but economics is holding us up." He concludes, "We still hope to have another officer." As an alternative to hiring- another police officer, Chief McIntyre suggested the concept of auxiliary policing to his town council on March 25. He said auxiliary police are made up of "young people inter- • ested in volunteer police. work." They wouldnot carry revolvers and would merely assist the policemen on their rounds. The auxiliary police officer would re- ceive a nominal fee of "about $100 a year or thereabouts, plus a uni- form." Chief McIntyre told his council *that aside from relieving man- power shortages, auxiliary police would, at the same time, afford those. interested in entering police work, as a profession, the chance to see the workings of a police department at a relatively early age. NO BED OF ROSES: `NA policeman's lot is no bed of as)*at•(Mr time, fiittit could be • better with more public support." The Wingham police chief says his department, like so many others throughout the world, ex- periences a• "big problem with people ikot reporting incidents soon enough because they think they are too trivial." It may sound cliche, but there can be no better truth. A police department is only as goodas the public it serves, and Chief. Miller, holds that opinion. He says, "We keep our 'information sources secret and it makes our job easier." His de- partment has "good co-opera- tion" from Wingham's Town Council and, overall, good co-op- eration from the public. His force sponsors such corn- .munity activities as bonspiels,' bicycle rodeos and other pro- grams to maintain constant corn- munication with the townspeople. Chief McIntyre has a similar philosophy. "You have to walk a beat to keep up personal contact with the public, I think. This is why, maybe, the OPP loses touch with the average person." When a policeman is called in, he says, "The person who needs him should get him immediately, not 9a minutes later." The chief believes that "if you don't treat the public right, as a police officer, it will come back on you." Chief McIntyre's key combina- tion to small town police work is concern. The genuine kind. He says, "If a policeman goes in to investigate a case with an' atti- tude of indifference and abrupt- ness, he makes people feel un- comfortable and turns them against the police." Mount Forest gives his depart- ment "eXcellent co-operation", he is happy to say. He feels the force is close to the public, the 'man on the street, the shopkeep- ers, the young people, all people. A policeman walks a tightrope. The public sees his uniform first and the man second. As a. police officer he is expected to act many different ways to many different people. If he is called upon to be tactful and tough in a situation that warrants it he may , be labelled "brutal". • • `And�'if he uses diplomacy and a somewhat relaxed approach he may :be called "chicken" and be defined as not being able to "cut the Mustard" and police his dis- trict with authority. The odds are stacked against him even before he puts on that Uniform in the morning. That's what he is up against and that is one of the challenges he accepts when he choose's to be a police officer. THE TROUBLE WITH DRINKING: Certainly, alcohol violations take up a slice, of the policeman's daily work. But, by bow much? Chief Miller says occurrences related to drinking are "not any worse in Wingham than any- where else, but it gets noisy here, like it does everywhere, espe- cially on a weekend." He criticizes the lowering of, the drinking age from 21 to 18 as being a "boo-boo". Now that, 18-year-olds can obtain liquor le- gally, he says "16 -year-olds and even younger kids want it , too, and they can get, it more easily now because there isn't that much of a gap between them and the i8 -year-olds as far as ,knowing each other as friends." Chief McIntyre says because Mount 'Forest's "three hotels are well-run, we don't get that many calls to them. They 'have good. management," he says, "and it helps cut down our work, because they use good judgement and common sense." We asked Jim Miller if he thinks women police _officers Would be a good idea in 'any of the three towns. "I think they have a place and they certainly make good police officers, but I cannot see it happening on a small force simply, because of budget prob- lems." SUGGESTS AMALGAMATION: Chief Sachs would like to see the police forces' of the three towns and surroiuiding areas amalgamated into one depart, ment policing a population of 15,000.. • He said, "If we were to put to- gether the salaries of the various dispatchers in the area, we could operate a 8dentra►l .y is ted, 24 can maintain l r type policing to what we have now; bringing it in line with the recom- mendations of thetask force on policing, plus putting the various departments into a position where officers could specialize in certain avenuesof, investiga- tion." Right now, specialization is almost impossible for police offi- cers on smaller forces because of the obvious manpower reasons; but, says Chief Sachs, "We are at a point now where we must spe- cialize because the persons com- mitting the crimes are very spe- cialized." • He cited housebreakers as an example of specialized crime. If a centralized force, main- taining offices in the three towns were established he said, "A controlling body could be set up with members from each muni- cipality. The small town police officeris a different breed from his + .. terparts in urban centre certain , extent. But, as was mentionedpreviously, he is uni- versal, meaning he adapts' to whatever district he is polici g. fie gets to. know the people, for without them there can :be no.. efficient means of c rime proven. a. tion. That important, rapport be- tween the ;public: and the man is what makes ;it all work. Next time you see,that uniform coming down the street,. take .a look'at the man, first. He's [web. ably on+eof the nicest guys you'd want to meet! Vanc.uver's Chinatown lures gourmets After San Francisco, the , •. second largest Chinatown in North America is in Vancouver,, where some 50,000 of Canada's 125,000 Chinese live. For . gourmet, visitors' to Van- couver, Chinatown is.:a must because of the almost endless variety of culinary delicacies 'on sale. Take your pick, of the black, Chinese musbro0 s ,.value, -`wits and liehs a nuts..• Or you can try sturgeon, rock cod, sharks' fins, bird's nest soup, Hong Kong oysters and barbecued -ducks. • For cooking your own, you can - buy awok, a round -bottomed Chinese pan, originally designed to extract the maximum amount of heat from the tiniest fire. In the restaurants, you must give at least one day'snotice if you wish to order Eight Precious Jewels Chicken, Peking Duck, or Winter Melon Soup. !, Chinatown chefs are very jealous of their international reputation for excellence in the kitchen. To point up the all -embracing availability of everything in Van- couver's Chinatown, one store . has this sign in the window: "If • we do not have it, you never needed it." WINGHAM'S POLICE CHIEF Jim Miller says, "A police- man's lot is not a bed of roses at any time bit it could be better with more public support. The big problem is people notreporting incidents to the police soon enough because they think it's trivial or they don't want to get involved." The chief is very satisfied with the force's equipment and manpower situation. Its equipment includes two radio -equipped cruisers, two portable walkie-talkies, and a new building consisting of a . gymnasium plus modern offices. -Photo by Jackson TREAT THEM RIGHT:Mount Forest's Town Police Chief, Ardell McIntyre and Officer Robert Mclntee discuss an assignment before starting their rounds. Chief McIntyre believes a policeman in a smaller town has to "keep up per- sonal contact with the public. if you don't treat them right," he says, "it will come back on you and affect your police work." —Photo by McC