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Village Constable builds trust in community (Continued from page 1) not incompatible with toughness‘. In her blue uniform with heavy black shoes and fully equipped with service revolver, riot stick, and spray, she looks â€" what? â€" fully prepared, though not in the least menacing. Robocop she is not. "Yeah," she protested, "Oh yeah, I can get tough if I have to." Adding with a charming crackle, ‘"‘That is the beauty of it." Officer Ellie hardly needed to add that the ‘strong arm‘ method is generally not her first line of action. While guns may sometimes be necessary (realistiâ€" . cally) in law enforcement, she is much more interested in nonâ€"violent solutions. Her methods are more subtle, calling for patient, timeâ€"consuming groundwork in the community, building trust and coâ€" operation. Starting with educating herself in the special needs of her Kerr Street neighâ€" borhood (a sometimes wild assortment of seniors, developmentally challenged, ethnic youth, and businesses); and by serving on school, business, and profesâ€" sional committees. Ellie is gradually putting a human, and caring, face on policing. It‘s a tough, sometimes ragged and emotional process. Guess what? Cops have feelings, too. Certainly, Ellie brings her own parâ€" ticular sensibilities to the job. Like most farmers, Van Vliet can detect a load of bullshit pretty quickly (an asset in any line of work); and like many of the peoâ€" ple in her neighborhood, she has faced tribulations in her life (some of which have made her stronger). While her first year back in uniform was spent in Bronte, the past three years have been invested in Kerr Streetâ€" very much by choice. "Bronte is beautiful," the officer commented, "and the people are beautiâ€" ful. But there just wasn‘t the activity going on there." When opportunity knocked, she grabbed the chance to come here. She was adamant about creating a ‘visible‘ police presence in the neighborhood (in spite of the rocks that sometimes come through the windows) and she was instrumental in getting the foot patrol office moved from an unobtrusive baseâ€" ment to street level in a shiny new buildâ€" ing, smack in the middle of the action. (A great place from which to view the Santa Claus parade, we might add.) Amongst other things, Van Vliet was concerned about an element of the local youth who have a tendency to overâ€" whelm seniors and prey upon the handiâ€" capped. Loitering and intimidation are probâ€" lems in the neighborhood, she said. She also worried about immigrant women in this highly diverse, ethnic CORRECTION NOTICE November is Diabetes Month Sponsor Page had a wrong phone # should have read Diabetes Supply Centre 1060 Speers Road, Oakville The Createst Cift you can Cive _ 4 The Cift of Friendship g ; Be a Big Brother Call 0 Big Brothers of Halton Today . community of Portuguese, Korean, West Indian and others; women who are often dominated and sometimes abused by their mates. . "Some women spend their married lives in fear," the policewoman noted. Because their command of English is not good and they do not know who to trust, they feel trapped. "The trick for me is to be here in the community on a regular basis," Officer Ellie said, "Gradually it gets around that there is a female officer who is sympaâ€" thetic and can help." I met Ellie for the first time on a Monday morning â€" a day which would normally be her day off. She was at the courthouse to testify in an assault case; the afternoon would take her to a meetâ€" ing at the regional offices and in the evening she would be meeting with local youth at Oakville Arena. She said she knew, when she got back into policing, her time would no longer be her own. It was something she discussed with her husband, Bruce, before taking the plunge. Knowing his wife‘s commitment to the job, he has been absolutely supportive. At her Village Constable office on Kerr Street later in the week, the reporter got a slightly different view of the constable. A little more relaxed perâ€" haps; she was in shirt sleeves in her own chair behind her own desk. The Kerr Street beautification project was blasting along just outside the door and Officer Ellie was mopping up some details of a car breakâ€"in at herâ€"school â€" St. Thomas Aquinas. People who walked by the office often looked in and waved. A few came in to visit. Ellie has a soft spot for kids and misfits, the disenfranchised. With all the work, she has to do ("90% of police work is report writing," she groaned), still there is almost always time for a smile, a hug even. The walls display snapshots of the children in the neighborhood, plus a carâ€" toon of Officer Ellie herself tooting along in an old car. Humor plays a big role in her public speaking presentaâ€" tions, for which she is in constant demand, on topics like elder abuse, streetâ€"proofing kids, and safety for women. Ellie says the face of policing is changing; that community policing, which involves consultation, education, and onâ€"going interaction with the public, meshes almost perfectly with her style and philosophy. "Some people see us as the smile and wave guys (gals?)," she said of her Village Constable assignment. "They think we spend all day drinking coffee (and eating doughnuts?) They haven‘t got the whole picture. Looking down at her cup of coffee, she grinned. 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