Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Echo focused on the related issues of homelessness, mental health and drug abuse in part 1 of this story. Today, we will look at some of the other challenges facing the Woodstock Police Service.
The city has recently had two instances of gun violence, one resulting in the suicide of a man and the shooting of his wife in what police are calling intimate partner violence with an illegal gun. The couple’s baby, found in a stroller, was unharmed. The second shooting was a brazen daylight drive-by where several bullets were shot into a city home. Police are still investigating.
“It’s a major concern. Gun violence is increasing. I knew we would get to this point because the city is growing exponentially and with that comes higher crime. Brantford, down the road, has experienced a lot of gun violence and it was just a matter of time before it came here,” explained Chief Rod Wilkinson.
He said he’s seen many more guns seized in Woodstock over the last three years during arrests for drug trafficking and even at routine traffic stops and added it is difficult at the local level to be proactive when it comes to illegal weapons.
“When we get one, we try to trace it back to where it came from and that could give us some leads. But you’re right, we just happen upon it or we get some information someone might have one.”
Another concern for Wilkinson and his police service is the drug trade. He told the Echo there is a constant demand for drug enforcement whether it’s the drug intelligence section executing warrants or officers on the road.
“Road officers doing traffic stops have run into a lot of drugs. Not just your simple possession, but trafficking. Our officers are out there stopping vehicles and finding this stuff. They are keen, just out of police college and they want to get these drugs off the streets.”
Wilkinson added drugs are always going to be a problem because when one person gets arrested and shut down the next one will come in.
“We are constantly on the ground looking for drugs. I have increased the drug unit staff by one and my plan is to add another officer sometime soon. I’m not sure I will be able to post that before the end of the year, but if not in 2025. I need to get some hiring done before I can pull the trigger on that.”
When it comes to hiring, the force is constantly recruiting both uniform and non-uniform staff.
“We are hiring like crazy. When I took over as chief one of my goals was to increase the size of the police service. There weren’t enough officers and we were running short of our minimum strength all the time. We had officers working overtime and we have a part-time program to fill in holes.”
Wilkinson added there are currently some officers on mental health leave as a result of the severity of calls they are attending.
“The more trauma they see, the more it can affect them. We needed to increase the numbers based on our call volume but we also need to spread those calls out amongst our officers. Some officers are doing nine to ten calls a day and if five are trauma events and not spread out amongst the platoon, that is why we need to increase our numbers to help mental health. We need to answer the calls and be adequate and effective in our duties.”
The chief explained he is pleased with the hiring of 17 new officers joining the force in the last two years.
“I still have some openings I need to fill and part of that is because of a few retirements and a couple left for different jobs, getting out of policing altogether. We are still looking but don’t get the number of applications a fire department would receive.”
Wilkinson added the force is trying to get themselves out there to generate more interest by utilizing social media and attending job fairs throughout southern Ontario. Officers also set up a booth at the recent Woodstock Home Show. He admitted recruiting isn’t easy for more than one reason.
“We are finding some of our applicants fail their physical testing to ensure they can meet the demands of the job. That drops us down already before we even get to the interview process. I see that as our struggle. We’ve had great recruiting when it comes to experienced officers with a few coming from Brantford and Stratford and they’ve all come here with a great work ethic.”
He explained the majority of officers on the road are young and he’d like more veterans to balance that.
“Experience is a big thing. If you have ten years on the road compared to one year, there’s a big difference in how to do the job, investigate and even from a safety standpoint.”
Something new people will see as part of Woodstock officers' equipment is body cams. Wilkinson said part of rolling out the new hardware is a civilian role behind the scenes to save the video footage.
“We are just finishing the interview process for our digital evidence management analyst. I would think by the time we roll it out it will be 2025 so we wanted to get a civilian analyst to learn the body cams from the start and be able to train the officers at the same time. We don’t want a failure with the program and want to roll it out when everyone knows what they are doing.”
The force is also hiring an information processing data clerk who will assist the analyst and court office.
“Because we lay so many charges it’s tough for one person to get all that work done. I see a need for those two new positions plus a new part-time clerk for our front office. They take care of a lot of accidents, the front counter and police checks.”
In recent months the Woodstock Police Service has ramped up its social media presence, informing residents of news and arrests in the city. Wilkinson admits it opens up for force for criticism from some people but at the same time, he felt the public needs to know what they are doing.
“Our media presence hasn’t been the greatest and I’m not happy with that so when you reached out, I was like, let’s go. And Jamie (Taylor, an inspector) has been instrumental in bringing forward some of our media releases and getting us out there a little more. I think you will see us on Rogers TV soon also.”
Wilkinson wanted to remind members of the public and the media the Police Services Board meetings are open and available virtually.
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