For the Aylmer Police Service, it is all about how best to assist victims of intimate partner/domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
And late last month, the service was the recipient of $230,000 in provincial funding in response to their Lobbying for Victims grant request.
The grant is courtesy of the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General’s Victim Support Grant Program.
Aylmer Police Chief Kyle Johnstone is the first to admit the front lobby of the station is far from welcoming for victims of crime who need to come to their Beech Street headquarters.
So in the first year of the two-year grant, approximately $200,000 will be spent on significant improvements to the lobby (see photo below), transforming it into “a welcoming, victim-centric environment that promotes healing and trust to ensure every victim who enters the that station is met with respect and care from the moment they arrive,” assures Johnstone.
Johnstone adds, “We have such a professional competent group of officers. It’s like going to a specialist for a doctor’s appointment and they can be the best specialist in the world but if you go into a lobby or an office that’s antiquated and doesn’t meet your expectations you don’t have a lot of faith in what’s about to happen.”
The second year of the grant will focus on officer training and resources.
A critical component of the program moving forward, stresses Johnstone, is a partnership forged with Mennonite Community Services.
“We’re going to prepare a whole bunch of literature and It’s going to include a billboard that advertises right on the main strip here on John Street for specific Low German reporting and how there can be trust in the police for certain things.
“So it’s also going to include some community awareness events and some community presentations.”
Johnstone explains a special unit has been created to specifically deal with domestic violence.
Johnstone credits municipal staff and the town council for their support in the transformation to a fully functional police service.
And for the first time, the Aylmer Police Service includes a cadet in their ranks.
“So we now have a cadet and the person in that role, her name is Samantha Giesbrecht. She’s local. She’s from the low German Mennonite community as well and did her co-op placement here.”
Written by Ian McCallum
