The Community Policing Meeting that was held on Sat Feb 6th was a great success. There we 60-70 residents in attendance and a lot of good questions and concerns were raised. The Police gave an overview of what’s happening in the Winona Community from a Crime perspective. It was also noted that there are a lot less calls for service in Winona than there are in other parts of the City.
One clear message that came from the meeting is that if you don’t report a theft or other incident to the Police, they won’t know about it. Some residents think that reporting to the police may affect their insurance and that is not true. The only time the police and insurance are in contact is when a resident goes to the accident reporting centre and reports an accident because it is required by insurance in order to make their claim. That resident in turn must give his insurance company the report number so that they can get the details.
It was also noted that quite often thefts from vehicles go unreported because they are minor in nature. The police stressed the importance of reporting all thefts regardless of value. It was mentioned that it is time consuming for residents to go through the reporting process and in turn the police advised that they are in the process of creating an online reporting system.
There were a number of suggestions given to residents about how to be aware of a possible crime happening or being planned and what to do to protect yourself and your property. As a result of this section of the meeting the great majority of residents in attendance stated they would like a follow-up meeting where the police could spend the whole time talking about what to do and not do around your home to keep yourself and your property safe.
As a result of the success of this meeting and the request for another, I am pleased to announce that a follow-up meeting has now been confirmed for Saturday, February 27th, 2016 at 10am in the morning at the Stoney Creek Municipal Building, 777 Hwy #8 at Jones Rd.
At this meeting the Police will have a special officer in attendance to talk about community safety for you and your family at your home and around your community and what you should and should not do when certain things take place. It should be a very informal meeting for all and I hope that you’ll do your best to attend.
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