North Bay City Police has released its Strategic Business Plan for 2017-2020, affecting the communities of North Bay and Callander. The end plan is the result of public consultations, with additional input from its members and community partners. The document identifies four strategic pillars. The first priority is supporting its members, focusing on building and maintaining a healthy and supportive work environment. The second priority is collaborating with community partners by sharing in crime prevention. It's followed by taking action to provide a progressive and responsible police service and finally, policing with the trust and confidence of the community, by doing their job well.
When Shawn Devine applied for the Chief's position, he said he was asked by the Police Services Board, what he saw as the challenges facing policing.
This document addresses some of those concerns.
"Those challenges were sustainability in policing, the leadership, mentorship and development of our employees, continuing trust in the community and community engagement and mobilization," explained Devine.
The Chief said he looked at those challenges and together with his members, were able to turn them into opportunities.
"We don't make widgets," said Devine.
"We have 160 employees and that's our strength, so we're focusing on development and leadership, and mental health and wellness for our employees." He went on to say, "The sustainability portion of it is, efficiency and effectiveness."
Seeing almost daily reports coming out ot the United States focusing on police and their interaction with the public,
Devine says it"s important to maintain public trust.
"We've always been well supported in this community," he said. "And we want to keep that positive relationship with the public."
Work on the strategic business plan began almost two years ago with both a public and internal survey. In addition, a community engagement session was held back in March, where nearly 80 different organizations offered their input. The document not only provides details to the public about where the Police Service is going over the next three years, it will also be used used internally by the force, with regard to performance evaluations and promotions.
"When we went to the table with our committee members, it was the committee that actually said, 'you know what? our strength is our people,' and that's the number one pillar that we're looking at right now, and that really resinated with me" explained the Chief.
Devine pointed out the need for trust between the force and the community. He said there will be times when the force will require the help of the community and its partner organizations, to deal with identified issues. He used public health ministries, and addiction services agencies, as examples of organizations police might bring to the table, to work as a collective group, on specific problems such as drug related issues.
The last three year strategic business plan ended in 2016.
Copies of the report are available for pick-up at the police station or by going to their website
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