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The Acton Free Press Wednesday June28 Police offices too old crowded report The Regional Police Association made recommendations In Its survey and evaluation of the force Many of them would mean changes for Milton George town and Acton They Include obtaining the County Health Unit Building at Milton for use as District 1 headquarters and 12 division officers District l takes in the north of Halton and headquarters in Georgetown Another recommendation calls for the renovation of the Georgetown office for use of both its own officers and those now working out of Acton It would therefore mean closing the Acton precinct The recommendations also call for consideration of splitting District 1 and making a new district Under the scheme Milton would be separate from Georgetown- Acton Looking at the Georgetown office the report calls for a fairly new building to replace the old one Having all Acton and Georgetown officers work together would improve and enable better utilization of personnel Hills should be policed out of one building the two buildings only serve to separate the men and Increase costs contends the report Recently the Police Commission ordered the landowner of the Georgetown office Hy to make changes to the appearance and structure According to the commission this work has been done However the police officers report states the following The officers locker room is in the cell block This means the officers put up with the stench and abuse from prisoners when they are changing The locker room la overcrowded The cell block Itself Is the only one to accommodate prisoners from Milton Acton as well as Georgetown Prisoners are not segregated Female prisoners cannot be accommodated if the cell Is already In use There Is a crash bar exit door within 10 feet of the cell escape There la no privacy In the lunch room this room Is part of the common hallway which leads to the second floor of- flees Also In the fail of last year the police administration ordered coffee and pop machine be removed from toe lunch room because we would not supply the Commission with per Item sold The administration has not offered an alternative since the machines were removed The Breathalyzer fa In the locker room and next to the mens washroom Privacy while doing the tests is vir tually Impossible and goes against all the guidelines set down by the Centre of For- Metro Assoc president looks at Halton report Many of the problems mentioned in the morale report by the Halton Regional Police Association can be seen in other occupations Other workers live with a law for the chief and a law far the Indian favoritism and the fear to criticize superiors In order to help place the issues In the mainstream of police lire Metropolitan Toronto Police Association President Allan Evelyn was asked to comment on the report The in service raining in Halton was stopped last autumn because there was no money to caver the cost of overtime while the men were on course according to he report I don know how a police department con operate today without inservice training with the changes in the laws Evelyn said No police department operating without Inservice training is keeping officers informed and equipped to do its Job said the Toronto president According Evelyn the Ontario Police which governs all police commissions has a duty to see that police forces have In service training The police would like a pool of new vehicles to draw on when theories they use pass thew mile mark Is that reasonable The mile figure Is one used by the Ontario Provincial Police for years he said He continued by saying most municipal forces use It He said he thought it was a realistic figure The Halton force is asking hat the police association be Police administrators arrogant elitist report The Halton Police Associations morale report zeros In on the ad ministratorsbrother officers who manage the attitudes are mistrustful paternalistic arrogant or elitist The report disclaims any blanket condemnation of the administration but states that power Is in the hands of a few men who estrange the man in the field from the Hon if those few fail In their attitudes or abilities A couple of samples of what field officers stated In the report are Mistrust is pulling the Force apart And this one the members dont feel a trust in the Administration chief and deputy chief and regional headquarters Inspectors and their ability to with fairness and impartial manner regard to discipline investigations and more important general at titudes The report pointed out examples of what it administrative are loo numerous to list Such shortcomings included the reluctance of some senior ranks to make a firm decision on their own and an apparent discrepancy between the treatment given lower ranks as opposed to senior officers for viola lions of force policy The Regional Police Association would like to see the para military concepts of the present force set aside and replace them with the notion of police being a profes sion of sophisticated public servants The report draws on two sources to push the idea of having police association members on the governing police Regional Police Commission The first source a prates report contends that neither commission or association members are equipped for management or industrial relations The professor also calls for a new method of Involvement where executive members of the association are Involved in appropriate decision making The second source a report to the government recom mends the police chief and the president of the association sit on the board which governs the force Dump cleaned A letter from Halton Region assured members of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority executive committee that preventive measures had been taken to solve leachate leaking into he Credit River from the Georgetown dump The letter stated wind blown debris had been collected an extension to the leachate system installed and the Region wilt do additional monitoring to ensure stan dards are kept up part of the police commission so the association can have a say in policy making There is nothing new about associations asking for this type of Involvement There are some inherent problems such as bargaining said Evelyn He said In such cir cumstances it would be a con flict of Interest to have an association member on the board He said however there Is no doubt that changes within the force are much smoother when police chiefs and associations consult On the demand that all promotions should take place within 30 days Evelyn said he could see management screaming about that one Management he said may want to change the status within the force see if It can make a useful change without filling a position that soon But if theyre the com mission abusing that situation which I read Into these responses theyre that kind of response fromtheassociatlon Statistics within the report state the ratio of police of fleers per I t realize was that high Here again ratios are useless taking the number of sum monses an officer gives out and say from that that he la a good or bad officer It depends on the community I really cant comment about It being high But on other things In the report no in service training that indicates to me they have a problem The Halton report calls for a attitude towards police budgets They should not be subject to cuts or austerity measures It states Evelyn said it Is a concern of per cent of the police associations In Canada He termed the request pie In the sky What they the com mission should be doing Is money to save money to find ways of put ting police forces back on the track One of the sad things about budgets across Canada is that governments have done nothing to seriously Btudy the Impact of police work on ways to Increase police productivity or efficiency There has been no major study in Canada said the Toronto association president Later In an interview with Halton Police Association President Ruelens the question was asked why no mention of wages was made In the morale report You can hardly do anything else when the last year and this you have the highest wage In the province he said Last year the wage for a 1st Class Constable in was A police officer with the same rank in Toronto made From what little Ive seen of the report the recommends tions are factual said Torontos Evelyn He said he was surprised at some recommendations from the administration point of view He said he thought was more advanced Interrogation Room No room Is set aside for this purpose Property Room This is an old bank vault in the basement and is never secure Con sequently to preserve evidence the officer must keep It in locker Parade room The facility just does not exist unless you use the report room lunch room etc there is absolutely no privacy Through the week parking spots are extremely limited at the fouroclock shift It la not uncommon to wait for a parking spot to be vacated The situation In Acton has improved recently according to the report by moving the men from the old town hall into the building on Mill Street The condition of the old building was known by the Police Commission yet they allowed the men to work In this deplorable building without consideration for the men who worked there Under the new situation parking for personal vehicles is still a problem the town will only allow two parking spaces for department vehicles on Mill Street The building at Milton Is the best of the three according to the report is also 100 years oh not properly wired and has outdated heating systems which continually breaks down The womens washroom Is located beside the sergeants office on the main floor and is not very private The mens washroom which docs have a shower stall Is located on the second floor next to he juvenile and court offices If one has to shower he has to go across the hall to the locker room to change There Is no phone In the lunch room on the third floor Officers are continually called on the phone must leave the lunch and go down a flight of stairs to answer calls Security the building is locked up after which leaves no one in the building Several officers leave their The men in blue speak RUELENS talks to porters after Thurs days commission meet ing guns in their lockers on completion of the shift If Division was ever broken into the department could have a very embarrassing situation if several revolvers were stolen Elsewhere the police association would like the regional headquarters building at Oakvllle used as a police station Instead of housing the administration It the building Is the only police building In the region and Is not being used for that purpose In Burlington the report recommends pulling the three divisions In one central building The administration and the commission should be ashamed of our operational buildings states the report When our own officers walk into these buildings to report for duty their morale drops out of sight Do we in all fairness have to work out or old and inadequate buildings when other branches of government both locally and regionally have much newer and belter facilities As examples please compare he fire departments the own regional employees The following dozen are from the Halton Regional Police Associations morale report They ore what the officer on the street told the association I cant remember the last time I was proud to have someone visit our police station After all whos proud of doing police work In some ones old bedroom Can anyone ell me why we need an office In Acton Isnt it nice we can afford to keep up this office for a town of population Could we please have an office for CampbellvuV Isnt It nice of he Chief to let us use the cells at Regional Headquarters I guess he figured since it is the only true police building In the Region we should have access to It Wouldnt It have been simpler to put the real policemen in a real police building and let the Adminis tration use an office building The Chief probably figured that one day make an arrest and he would need the cells close by We have a man In the region trained in bomb work He has no equipment but if a bomb does come up well call him and hell confirm our suspicions lhal its a bomb In hat way we won I give Peel Regional Bomb Squad any falsocolls Instead of us asking Peel Police for the use of their or bomb squads why not have the do it Then we wont suffer the embarrass ment of asking Many personnel on the force have not met the Chief since Traffic In all towns In Is getting very heavy and we need a Miter set of roof lights and sirens Ambu lance and fire are trusted with them but why not police It seems that police are just to be seen and not heard Promotions are not made according to Force proced ure The rank and file start to get the feeling that they must follow the rules or be punished but the ration will only follow them If it Is to their advantage The fact that a Force of our size can afford to have an inspector working full time investigating members of the Force during this time of the Austerity Program would lead one to believe that here is something the matter with the priorities of the Force I am referring to super vision over the whole force How many times have we heard it said Milton does it different from Oakvllle Oak does It different from Burlington Burlington does it different from everybody We are supposed to be one We know it Is not I believe what I am trying to get across Is the fact have these problems and have had them for four years with no Improvement It also would appear that we are not going to get any Improvement in the future as all we hear Is cuts in the budget It Is no wonder that the officers have a low morale or become frus trated when they have work under these condi tions Police work Is a very In business in both tech nical and human terms It is a costly business which should not be subject to budget cuts and austerity moves TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CONTINUING SAL WITH 10 OFF ALL MERCHANDISE IN STOCK NOT ALSO MANY fTEMS FEA TUREO AT TO REDUCTIONS prowl Missed Your Free Press Please Let Us Know Our carrier do their best to give fast courteous service but mistakes do happen so it you do not receive your paper or have any complaints regarding delivery please call our office 8532010 ELKS MONDAY BINGO Door Prizes Road Georgetown Prize Early Bird Qamta JO B PHIZES AT EACH Doors Open 7pm Bingo StartsSpm Regular Games 3 Special at Jackpot Numbers GUARANTEED Detection In Small Children FREE Bus Service From Acton and Georgetown WINNERS MRS JARDINE MRS A LEIMINO Wednesday July 5th Acton Pet Food and Supplies ON RIVER STREET OPPOSITE THE LIBRARY Featuring Major Pet Food Brands 8771963 MAROPOOLS 877 GEORGETOWN Imialiad with a nitration automatic skimmer centra drain 30 mil unitized liner with a year warranty Ills printed border pattern all cleaning equipment reinforced Beau Mux hard bottom coping all hotei 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