Belleville Police Service unveils 2019-2021 Strategic Safety Plan

The Belleville Police Service has unveiled the details of its next strategic plan to guide the police force over the next three years.

Inspector Sheri Meeks shared some of the highlights with the Police Services Board today (Wednesday) with the key areas of collaborative community safety, fostering a professional and supportive workplace and organizational effectiveness.

Some of the highlights included improving road safety, addressing crime through effeictive call response, investigations, enforcement and visibility, supporting officers in the work place and supporting victims of crime.

The plan is also looking at ways to responsibly manage and deploy resources in major emergencies, with Meeks citing the recent bomb scare at Centennial Secondary School as an example, as well as maintaining public trust in the police force.

Chief Ron Gignac says the plan’s main goal is to continue to move the service forward.

Belleville Police Chief Ron Gignac listens to a presentation during the Police Services Board Meeting, at Belleville City Hall, on July 17, 2019. (Photo: David Foot / Quinte News)

Chief Gignac added that as much as the plan is about establishing ways to keep the community safe, it’s also addressing ways to improve the workplace and supports for officers.

He credited the service’s chaplain program and the newly implemented therapy dog program as ways to improve the mental well being of residents and officers, when dealing with the “darker side” of policing.

As part of the year-long process of putting the plan together the police service held a handful of public input sessions and used students from the Loyalist College Journalism Program to conduct phone surveys to find out what areas of focus, or improvements, should be made.

Staff Sergeant Rene Aubertin tells Quinte News one area they’ll be expanding on is the use of social media, after 70% of survey respondents said they’d use that to support police efforts and exchange information.

Aubertin says that could expand further to having the duty officer put out real-time updates on what’s happening around the city as well.

Belleville Police Inspector Sheri Meeks delivers a presentation on the 2019-2021 Strategic Safety Plan, at Belleville City Hall, on July 17, 2019. (Photo: David Foot / Quinte News)

Meeks told the board the next steps are to research, gather data and establish a baseline, so they can track performance.

The latest crime index numbers are expected out next week, which will help with that.

BPS management will also meet with each division to develop specific goals and objectives, and review those on a quarterly basis.

Board Chair Jack Miller called the plan progressive and says the board is looking forward to those baselines being established and moving the police force forward.

You can click here to download and read the full 2019-2021 Belleville Police Service Strategic Safety Plan.

Police Services Board Chair Jack Miller listens to a presentation, during the Police Services Board Meeting at Belleville City Hall, on July 17, 2019. (Photo: David Foot / Quinte News)