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THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK Friday 12 1H1 Page Auxiliary police provide important town function By LISA The Herald On own theyre Just regular citizens with families and Jobs But under the direction of a police officer they become citizens on patrol and upholders of the law as Auxiliary Police Last week several Halton residents were as aux iliary police officers in a special ceremony at Halton Regional Polices 11 Division station in Georgetown Five of them were assigned to the North Halton area and made their first appearance as Auxiliary police at the popular Lions Club Crazy Boat Race down the Credit River Saturday Constable Andy Pink formerly of Georgetown Constable Wade Gramada of Milton Constable Grant Taylor of Milton Con stable Pam Douglas of Georgetown and Sergeant John of Georgetown were busy directing traffic controlling crowds and keeping the peace at the event Sergeant John was in charge of the crew He helped train the new Auxiliary officers and was promoted to the position of Sergeant at the special ceremony Thursday night after serving the community as an Auxiliary Constable for several years One of his trainees Constable Andy Pink said its fun being out there as an Auxiliary of ficer Though some of the duties the officers are required to undertake like traffic control and searching for missing children arent exciting tasks Constable Pink said he didnt join the auxiliary ranks for a thrill I like to help the community he said Ive always done a lot of volunteering and I thought this would be a novel way to give ser vice That sentiment is echoed by Constable Douglas was born and raised in Georgetown I like this town and I wanted to volunteer to give back to the com munity she said Since I knew a lot of officers on the force I thought this would be a good way to do that The chance to deal with the public drew Constable to the force I just moved to North last year so I thought this would be a good way to meet people and get to know the area And meet people they will said Staff Sergeant of the North Auxiliary police force Jim James He explained that Auxiliary officers are out there to assist police officers and the public in anything from point du ty at town parades to controlling traffic during a hydro failure But he stresses the Auxiliaries are not police officers Aux iliary officers are under the direction of police officers They are there to assist the police and public and have the same powers of arrest as he said The Auxiliaries do not carry a weapon but are given firearm Proud to serve By JOHN TATHAM Auxiliary Police Georgetown is a community built and held together by the work of many volunteers which in itself is one of the contributing factors to making this such a uni que and pleasant place to live and work Volunteers are found in the hospital Fire Department Am bulance Service and in many of the community homes and ser vices for the aged The Lions Club Kinsmen and Optimists thrive on the work of volunteers I have always wanted to make a meaningful contribution to the community but by virtue of the fact that I work as a Supervisor with the Toronto Transit Com mission in the city I was unable to contribute with many of these services The travelling distance and the shift work made most of them impossible to make a serious commitment to At the same time I always ap preciated the work that was be ing done by the members of the Regional Police The job of a police officer is becoming more and more complex and demanding as time goes on We see the spread of violence in the city encroaching on our borders and whilst we have been sheltered to a point because of our isolation from the city I am sure that most of us realize that it is only a matter of time I credit the Police to a very high degree with staving off- the influx of the criminal element for as long as this It is one of the easiest things in the world to be an armchair quarterback and the Police cer tainly have their share of critics I venture to say that the most vocal of these have absolutely no idea of what is really going on in their community and are doing very little to find out for themselves These are the people who are forever saying Why doesnt somebody do something but never think of doing anything themselves I am not suggesting that these people rush out and sign on as Auxiliary Police Officers for this is not for everyone However there are many other areas to which their expertise could be put to good use I have learnt so much in the last 2Ms years of my associa tion with the Police and the benefits of this learning has been immeasurable both with respect to the Police and my Sgt John private life Extensive courses in First Aid CPR rescue training both with the Fire Department and the Coast Guard an indepth study of municipal provincial and Federal law An education that would have cost a fortune elsewhere I now feel much more confident when I arrive on the scene where help may be needed We may be called upon to assist in searches and rescue work should it become necessary I have always had the greatest respect for our Police Officers and this respect has been rein forced tremendously in the time that I have been fortunate enough to work with them I have seen their professionalism show through many times and in countless different ways The agony they feel at the scene of a particularly bad accident or the frustration of a lost court case on which they have worked hard on ly to see it thrown out for the sake of some smalt technicality As an Auxiliary I can walk away As a professional Police Officer they must stay and see it through The police need our support now as never before and I am convinced that being an Aux iliary Officer is the ultimate way of showing that support I have heard it said that imitationis the form of flattery So be that he or she is capable of taking control in a situation where an officer is rendered incapable We teach them how to safely handle the firearms said Sergeant James Firearms training criminal Code powers of arrest first aid and how to deal with an emergen cy situation are all taught to Aux iliary officers during their week training course Officers are required to take hours of training pass a physical fitness test undergo interviews and pass course tests before receiving their certificates and uniforms Last year the Auxiliary of ficers in Halton gave 3000 hours of service to the Region said Staff Sergeant James The Auxiliary police force has been In Halton for three years now and there are approximately 20 civilians acting as police aids Training sessions are held once a year and citizens interested in servicing their community are in vited to join the ranks of citizens on patrol PRINT IMAGE PROCESSING Our services include Desktop Publishing Word Processing Proofreading Step up to a now level of Computer Rentals professional looking material Training CatlustoexploretheopportunHles FLYERS Watch for these MONEYSAVING flyers inside this edition of THE HERALD CANADIAN TIRE Partial Distribution GEORGETOWN FOOD MARKET Partial Distribution SEED HOUSE Partial Distribution BEAVER LUMBER RCA TABLE MODEL RECEIVER labia Modal hat lollcmlna SPECIAL Button Control Auto- Programming On Prompt and RCA REMOTE CONTROL COLOUR TV Plctuf Keyboard Tuning SquoraCornarHl Con Tub I RCA VCR On Control Programming Dual VCR Control v lib VKS Eloptad RCA TV Aamola Oparatai Compatible RCA TV Auxiliary Cons table Andy Pink helps in tors Ihe Lions make it safely across the roadway last Saturday Constable Pink Is of four new Auxiliary Police Officers in Hills Herald photo