Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, September 29, 1993, Page 5 Police begin downtown foot patrols By Mark Reesor Two teams of officers are new patrolling Whitby on foot as part of the DYurham Regional Police community-basod poIcing initia- tive. The officers began walking the beat Sept. 1. They hope te aoon be 'ridingz the beat' as well, but that wl have te wait until tbey can raise the $5,300 noeded te bu bikes and uniforme. They've already received a $500 dnation from the Optimiet Club of Brooklin. The unit je currontly concen- trating on three areas: downtown Whitby and Brooklin, and Cen- trai Park. The officere work 12-heur shifts, 8 a.m to 8 p.m. and 3 p.m. te 3 a.m, Tuosday te Sunday, although they'1l change their heure i a big problem occurs. Constable Jim Watson helped get the community policing unit off the ground (other membere are contables Dan Denyer, Tunde Reti and Chris Kemp). Ho says the main idea behind the it je t break dewn the barriers between tbe comrnunity and the police. "The basic concept is te get feedback froni the comnmunity on how tbey would bestlike, us te solve thoir- problemas as tbey see theni... (se) we can meke each person's community in the areas we targfet, a btter pýace te live." But Watson says the only way unit officers can do that is if people talk te themr. "Lot useknow whon and what your problem jes. We will corne around persenally and take the complaint... and try te determine what the -best approach is te eliminate the problomi -- net juet push it out of the way for 20 minutes, but actually try and lirninate the problem.» Watson says the approach is already working in the Michael Boulevard area, where police were getting a lot of complainte about kids causing miscbxf and disturbances and trying te recruit street gang members. Officere met with the local Neighbeurhood Watch and set up regular meetings with block ca- "tains. As a result, they're wo- ing te holp set up a drop-in centre at West Lynde Public School on Friday or Saturday ni g ts. Watson says that will give kids a place, other than the park, te meet. "The feedback we got from talking te the kids is 'Thank goodnees we're getting semething te do other than te hang around this park." In downtown Whitby, offioers have talked te eacb merchant %t lot them lnow we are bore" and te set up a 'keyholder list! 50 police kuiow who te contact in case of a break-in. They're aIse starting a 'net- working system,' essentially a phono chain for downtewn retai- lors in both Whitby and Brook- En. If one gets a bad choque from John Doe, for example, they tel others on the liet "se within five te 10 minutes the whole down- tewn core... know of any suspects who may ho in the area writing bad choques.» On weekendui officere go on "bar pato-, bt th:y'e con- cerned wih mre thae just rowdy behavieur and cistur- bances. Watson says they also patrol residential areas close te the bars, where people have cern- plained of probleme caused by patrons. Recently, for exainple, unit officers in the parking lot'of one Whitby bar made an arreet after hearing "hooting and hoilering" an seeing people daxnaging tree, tlepono polos "and any- thing else they could get their banda on" in a nearby neighbour- hood. "Net a major thing, but a major thing if yeu were to live there and tat was in your back- yard every Friday and Saturday IiKt,» says Watson. eunit ie setting up offices in each of the local higb echoole and wxil b. visitinx weekly in an attempt to get to know the stu- dents. «Aykid whe wants te (can) ceme in with any problemi at al -- it doesn't have te be Tm telling on Johnny' type tbing... we want te let the kids see us not just as gYs in unior who are out here tyn te get them but as guye who ae their friends." To help in getting that mes- sage acrese, unit officers hope te routinelyjoin kids in gym classes er ether sporting activities or sit in the lunch roem and taîk with them; «we- want te show them we're net just there te, in their words, 'bust somiebody' or give them a bard time.» 61,35_________111__ fl ~ Eu-ropean Womens HLaý Club 1121, Dundas St. E. (at Hopkins), Whitby Y] ,**f %