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www.durhamregion.com THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, MARCH 26,2003 PAGE 3 Clarington gets village constable Constable Greg Knopp plans to be visible and approachable BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer CLARINGTON Constable Greg Knopp is about to become a familiar face in the Newcastle area, and that's exactly what he was hoping for. The Durham Regional Police officer has been named village constable, to serve Newcastle, Orono and the rural areas of Clarington. Clarington. The village constable program assigns one officer officer to a designated area, and allows the officer greater flexibility to be available to the community community at times when he is most needed. The program, program, which was briefly altered due to staffing constraints, was just reinstated reinstated in the Newcastle- Orono area. "I think it's really important," important," says Const. Knopp of the role of the village constable. "The reality reality is that the days where the police are responsible for all the crime fighting and solving of problems are over. The people have the answers to the problems. problems. You have to be available available for them to give them to you." Tlie 13-year veteran of the force will have offices at both Newcastle Community Community Hall and Orono Town Hall. But he doesn't plan to spend much time in either, office - instead, he intends to'be out in the community, where he is visible and approachable to residents. "People can come up informally to address things" when a familiar officer is present in the community, he says. "Ap- proachability is a big thing." Having an easily identifiable identifiable member of the police police in the community at times when they are highly highly visible to residents is also important, lie says. "A sense of security is very important. It's irrelevant irrelevant how safe you are if you don't feel safe," he says. Const. Knopp . says members of the community community often hold the keys to solving problems in the area. But residents arc often hesitant to talk to police, unless it's to someone someone familiar. "The little bits of information information that solve the problems - they're not going to call (Durham Regional Regional Police) for that," he says. But those small items can add up and lead to bigger problems, he notes. "That's the idea - to solve the little things before before they become a crisis, before it's an emergency response," lie says. Merchants in Newcastle, Newcastle, say since its inception, they've noticed improvements improvements in matters such as loitering downtown and have lauded the program. "The fact that there was somebody around here all the time (meant) we didn't have so many packs of kids as we used to have," said Ron Hope, past-president past-president of Newcastle's BIA, upon hearing the village constable program had been reinstated. "The nice thing is we have somebody with a face and a (phone) number instead of having to go through the bureaucracy in Oshawa," said Mr. Hope. The warm welcome hasn't gone unnoticed by Const. Knopp. "The response from people surprised me," he says. "People are really genuinely happy to say, T know that face.'" Man charged with stalking woman 25 years Suspect has known the victim since both went to Bowmanville High School BY STEPHEN SHAW Staff Writer OSHAWA - An Oshawa Oshawa man is accused of stubbornly stalking a Pickering woman for the past 25 years, Durham Regional Regional Police say. Sergeant Paul Malik said the suspect, 42, has known the victim, who is 40, since both went to the same Bowmanville high school during the 1970s. "He's been obsessed with her ever since, it would appear," the police spokesman said. Sgt. Malik alleged the man has relentlessly hounded the woman over the years with phone calls and unwanted visits, as well as sending her gills and letters. Atone lime, she moved to another province and he followed her there, the officer officer said, describing the man's actions as "classic stalking behaviour. "He has. allegedly stated stated several times he's in love with the victim, and that he's waiting for her to become his girlfriend," said Sgt. Malik. The woman has apparently apparently reported the man to police several times over the years, although Sgt. Malik wasn't aware if charges had ever been laid in the past. When the suspect recently recently showed up at her workplace in Ajax looking for her, the victim once again turned to authorities in Icar, Sgt. Malik said. "His actions have made her quite fearful for her safety. It's scary," he said, adding there are concerns regarding the man's mental mental health. Murray . James Willis, 42, of Bloor Street, was arrested Monday following following an investigation and charged with criminal harassment. harassment. 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