A new victim services initiative, spearheaded by The Blue Mountains and Collingwood OPP detachment, is the first of its kind in Ontario.
“This will change the way, we, the police, engage with victims and really help to minimize the impact of the crime on the victim,” said Mary Shannon, OPP commander of the Blue Mountains/Collingwood detachment. “It will bring police services to the victim versus asking the victim to travel a significant distance after a traumatic incident.”
Members of the local OPP, Town of the Blue Mountains council and staff, as well as Christine Hogarth, parliamentary assistant in community safety for the office of the solicitor general, were on hand at the Blue Mountains’ town hall this morning to launch the new mobile unit.
Previous to this initiative, the region's OPP was served by two bricks-and-mortar child advocacy centres in Orillia and Barrie.
In order for child victims to provide testimony, they were required to travel to these centres, which often increase and prolong the associated trauma.
The mobile service will provide OPP members in the region with a vehicle, video equipment, a service dog and staff with specialized training in child advocacy.
When a crime against a child or involving a child witness is committed, police can call the unit, which will travel to the community where the victim resides, where a neutral location can be established for an interview.
The initiative has been made possible through the Proceeds of Crime Frontline Policing Grant.
“Our government is investing six million dollars into frontline community initiatives,” Hogarth said. “This grant is funded by assets seized by criminal prosecutions. Through this program, we are able to reinvest in our communities to support victims in the recovery process.”
The Blue Mountains Police Board applied for funding for the initiative late last year. At the time, Insp. Shannon said she saw it as a pilot project with "great opportunity for collaboration."
“This project is extremely important to our residents and to the residents across our central region, who will also be benefiting from this project,” said Jim Oliver, chairman of the Blue Mountains Police Services Board.
“It is important that more emphasis is placed on the victims of crime and that is exactly what this project is intended to do,” Oliver added.
The successful application will see the Collingwood/Blue Mountains OPP detachment receive $300,000 over three years for the program.
“Here in the Blue Mountains and the central region, this grant will help the community count on the response of mobile, on-site, multidisciplinary teams and specially trained members of the child advocacy centre,” Hogarth added.
The mobile unit will be available to OPP detachments across both Simcoe and Muskoka counties.
“No one group can enhance community safety on its own and this truly demonstrates the collaborative approach to enhancing community safety and minimizing the impacts on victims,” Shannon added.
The project is the first of its kind in the province and OPP reps say they will be watching the rollout of the program closely and hope to establish similar programs in other regions across the province.
