Dedicated community members were busy supporting local police last year.
The South Simcoe Police Service released its annual report on the auxiliary unit for 2023, as part of the police services board meeting at the South Division station on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
“We couldn’t do it without the auxiliary unit,” Chief John Van Dyke said of the volunteer program. “They contribute so much to our organization and to our communities. Especially with community events. They are always there for us.”
The report notes that the unit was “very busy” throughout 2023 with various events and details.
The unit provided a total of 3,650 hours of service spread across events in Bradford and Innisfil, which is an increase from 3,013 hours in 2022.
Some shifts in how those hours were spent included:
- Meeting/training increased to 754 from 409.5
- Ride along/Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) increased to 732.5 from 343.75
- Community engagement increased to 1,015.5 from 812.5
- Parades/festivals decreased to 281.5 from 485.25
As a result of those training hours, the report says all unit members are up to date on their cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training.
While authorized to have 30 members, the unit started 2023 with 24 active members, with one on a leave of absence and two off for medical reasons.
During the year, five members resigned to go onto careers in policing.
While one joined the OPP as a dispatcher and another joined York Regional Police as a constable, three joined South Simcoe: one as a court brief clerk, one as a digital disclosure clerk and one as a special constable, who was recently appointed as a fourth-class constable.
For 2024, the unit is expecting to see 10 new recruits join by summer.
Interviews were completed in January and scheduling is underway for them to take a “fairly significant” 60 hours of in-house training with the service, according to the chief.
Those candidates come from “all walks of life,” with some “great young people” from college and some more mature people in their 30s and 40s wanting to give back to the community, according to Auxiliary Staff Sgt. Rick Young.
“It’s a really nice mix this year,” he said, noting the unit allows people to “get their feet wet,” and can be a “great stepping stone” into policing.
Started in 1997, the South Simcoe Police Service’s auxiliary unit is staffed by citizens who volunteer to assist the service with community events, by performing duties such as crowd control, traffic control and public relations.
A member of the service acts as a liaison for the unit under the direction of the police chief.
Until recently, this role was filled by Sgt. Steve Black, but he was re-assigned to uniform patrol and Sgt. Kai Johnson has stepped up as the new liaison.
