Kawartha Lakes Police Service Chief speaks at a chamber event

DAN CEARNS The Standard

KAWARTHA LAKES: New Kawartha Lakes Police Chief, Kirk Robertson spoke to the community, on several policing related topics, at an event at the Lindsay Golf and Country Club, on Wednesday, December 4th.

The breakfast event was hosted by the Lindsay and District Chamber of Commerce. In his opening remarks, Chief Robertson said, Lindsay is “near and dear to my heart.”

“When I was sworn in, I spoke about relationships,” he said. “About building relationships in our community. I think now, more than ever, that’s very important. Since then, I’ve challenged my staff to get involved. We have a rich history, in this community, of being involved. I remember, as a kid, going to the hockey arena and seeing the police officer coaching, or being on a baseball team, or just being involved.”

He observed, community members tend to feel more comfortable and engaged when they know the officer or have seen the officers out in the community.

One of the topics he discussed was how 'repeat offenders' or those arrested can be out of police custody the next day, on bail.

“Taking away a person’s freedom, on its face, is a violation of their charter rights. Holding someone in custody is a serious violation of their protected charter rights,” the Chief said, adding, people have a right not to “be denied reasonable bail.”

He also shared, there is a “ladder approach” to conditions for releasing suspects, and in the case of serious offences or flight risks, then police are justified in holding someone for the community’s safety.

The Chief said, the police force is taking a compassion based approach to homeless encampments.

“If you take the opportunity to get to know the people in the encampments, not all of them have mental health issues, some of them do. Not all of them have addiction issues, some of them do. Some of them are there just because of tragic circumstances. They’re in the position of their life, where they don’t have the funds to be able to afford a place to stay, or the places they can stay, they don’t want to. So, they’re choosing to live where they live.”

He also remarked, recent court cases have made it more difficult to simply remove homeless encampments on public lands.

With growing populations, Chief Robertson explained the police service “needs to grow as well.” He noted this growth has also led to increases in calls for service.

The Chief said, the force has an officer now focused on “bail compliance,” as well.