Meet Sgt. Jay Hiuser, WRPS’ point person for all things rural in Wilmot, Wellesley, Woolwich and North Dumfries
- Galen Simmons
- May 29
- 4 min read
By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Waterloo Regional Police Service Rural Patrol Sgt. Jay Hiuser knows what it is to be a resident of rural Waterloo Region.
He grew up in rural Waterloo Region and he raised his family and continues to live in Wellesley Township today, giving him that insider’s understanding of how rural communities work, who the major players are and how the WRPS can best serve rural residents. Now, as part of the WRPS’ new rural township policing strategy, Hiuser is putting his knowledge and experience to good use as the police service’s point person for all things rural policing in the townships of Wilmot, Wellesley, Woolwich and North Dumfries.
“We used to have a police station in New Hamburg and we had a police station in Elmira, and our officers worked out of there,” Hiuser said. “I actually started my career as a young officer back in the early 2000s; I worked out of New Hamburg for many years. I was born and raised in a rural community, so I’m very familiar with the area – I spent a lot of my time out there.
“They shut down out there, maybe about 10 years ago. Once (WRPS) Chief (Mark) Crowell started, he made rural policing an absolute priority, and that was based on information he received from the community – community members in the townships – and also we had (a consultant) review the service, and one of their recommendations was for a rural sergeant for all things rural related, essentially.”
Having worked many years first as a member of the WRPS K9 Unit and then as part of the regular patrol unit, Hiuser said he was looking for something a little different. With plenty of experience engaging with the public and his extensive rural background, Hiuser was the obvious choice for rural patrol sergeant, a job he officially began back in January.
Since that time, Hiuser has made it his mission to reimagine the role of a police sergeant within the rural townships. His job, as he explains it, is all about connecting with community, whether that’s local politicians and township staff, community partners and social-service providers, local businesses, and residents from all walks of life. He leads a team of 20 patrol sergeants, all of whom he pushes to become public-facing members of the communities they serve, be it by attending local events, speaking with people on the streets, or even dropping in at local youth groups to hang out with the kids and local seniors centres to share information on things like frauds and scams.
“We had sergeants in rural before, but they had a very different role. I realized how busy it is and how much need there is out there for police interaction on a regular basis proactively, instead of reactive,” Hiuser said.
Hiuser is the lynchpin at the centre of the WRPS’ rural policing operations, being the person anyone and everyone can bring issues and concerns to. He says when a resident, a business owner, a member of a local council or anyone else comes to him with a concern or a recommendation for how the WRPS can improve its rural policing, he is always there to listen, understand and bring those ideas to the people who can make a difference up the chain at WRPS.
Hiuser also has at his disposal a number of specialized policing teams at WRPS like the community engagement team and the Direct Action Response Team (DART).
With the help of the community engagement team, Hiuser meets with the most vulnerable members of our communities who are struggling with homelessness, mental-health issues and addictions, and works with local social-services and health-care providers to ensure they have access to all the services and resources they want and need.
Working with the Direct Action Response Team (DART), Hiuser also plays a major role in the WRPS’ first-in-Canada stratified policing and crime suppression model – an approach that relies on data and statistics to help police focus on high-crime areas, repeat offenders and serious crimes with tailored solutions.
“When it’s a township (case), it gets assigned to me. So, I actually read the issue, I’ll pull the data, I’ll read the calls, I’ll develop a crime-suppression plan for that individual problem within the township,” Hiuser said. “Then I will direct it to patrol officers – there’s 16 patrol officers that work Woolwich, Wilmot, Wellesley, and then in North Dumfries, I have four additional officers. If those officers are available or they’ve been involved in the incident, then I will contact that officer and their supervisors, assign it to them so they can do a very, very strategic approach on crime suppression for that incident.
“When I started policing, we did a lot of good policework, but we went based on our gut, based on the information we got and a hunch, and we got a lot of success. But now, we’re very strategic, we go based on data and data-based enforcement.”
Another big issue Hiuser deals with in the rural townships is traffic and road safety. When road-safety issues are brought to him by township staff and residents, Hiuser works with the WRPS traffic services unit to study the data, develop a solution specific to each issue and assist with implementing those solutions.
Above all else, Hiuser’s job is focused on showing the residents of rural Waterloo Region that WRPS is present across all four townships, its officers are engaging with the communities they serve and they are here to listen and help in whatever way they can.
“We’ve evolved and we are doing so many good things out there that people don’t see,” he said. “So, my job is to go out there and just let people know. After the police stations closed, they may have a perception that we don’t care, we’re not out here, or we’re not engaged. No, we are. We always have been, it just looks a little bit different now.”
To speak with Hiuser about non-emergency situations in Wilmot, Wellesley, Woolwich, or North Dumfries, email RuralSGT@wrps.on.ca.
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