Twelve SVA members (a great turnout!) had a very interesting meeting on December 15 at Albert's office with Frederick Tomie, the police officer from Station 12 who is assigned to our neighbourhood. He introduced Caroline Gauthier, a new community police officer who will begin working from Station 12 on January 4, 2005. Caroline outlined that her role is not a first responder to immediate infractions (as is Frederick’s), but rather one of finding solutions for longer term problems that exist in the area. She will arrange to meet with organizations, landlords, business owners and residents to address issues such as problem buildings, itinerants, drugs, vandalism, graffiti, garbage, etc. She will work during daytime hours.
Frederick had two suggestions to help us to improve security and police response:
1) if there is a lane behind your house, put your house number on the fence or on the garage in the back, so that police can identify callers more easily.
2) if possible, install motion light detectors that will light up the lane. This will help discourage unwanted activity in the lane.
Frederick reported that since September, we have had 5 undercover police officers working our neighbourhood and that numerous drug-related arrests have been made. This effort will continue in the new year. A new process has also been started at the instigation of Commandant Patrick Lalonde whereby all clubs in the area will be visited regularly by police to identify people, and check for juveniles and drug activity. There are new police officers on the force in Station 12 and Frederick is in charge of training them. When he drives them through our neighbourhood, he points out the entrances and exits to our back lanes and problem areas.
We were reminded that when we call to report an incident we need to provide a good description of the incident, including the time and date of the occurrence, and any other information that could be used to help locate the person or persons involved.
Below are some useful numbers and e-mail addresses to keep on hand:
For emergencies, ALWAYS dial 911.
This can be followed up with a call to Station 12 ((514) 280-0112). Identify yourself as living in Shaughnessy Village, and say you want the incident brought to the attention of Frederick Tomie and/or Caroline Gauthier. Or, you can send an e-mail to Frederick at frederick.tomie@spcum.qc.ca .
For non-emergencies, including parking infractions, call 280-2222. This number will ensure that an incident will be tracked in a database.
To report ongoing problems that Caroline Gauthier can investigate, call her at 280-0412. This direct access number will be in effect starting January 4, 2005. Or you can e-mail her at caroline.gauthier@spcum.qc.ca .
If you have an issue you think should be raised with the city and/or the police, Ben Smith of our board is the Chair of our Committee on Safety and Security. His phone number is 932-9020 and e-mail address is benjamin.smith@polymtl.ca
And if you have any other issues or concerns about the neighbourhood that you think the SVA Board should become involved with, please give me a call (846-1861), or send an e-mail (nholobow@citenet.net ).
