Pubdate: Mon, 05 Jan 2009
Source: Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Record
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/942MrkRX
Website: http://www.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225
Author: Melinda Dalton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?216 (CN Police)

DRUG DEALERS, GANGS, EXTREMISTS TARGETED BY REGION'S NEW 'DIVISION 7'

WATERLOO REGION

You could call it a "one-stop shop" for those working to catch some 
of the worst criminals.

It's called the Strategic and Tactical Services division. It pulls 
together officers tackling the most high risk cases, in an effort to 
provide more efficient and effective policing.

"It's really a more streamlined, seamless approach to attacking what 
we're dealing with -- drug dealers, organized crime members, gangs 
and extremists," said Supt. Gary Askin, commander of the new division.

"Right off the bat, you've got enhanced public safety because we 
anticipate getting more prolific offenders off the street."

The so-called "Division 7" is comprised of three branches -- drugs, 
special response and intelligence.

Until recently, those branches were lumped in the much larger 
Investigative Services division -- which included everything from 
traffic services to homicide.

Pulling those unique branches out of the larger pool will ideally 
provide more oversight -- the new division has its own superintendent 
and inspector -- and help officers better understand the work of 
their colleagues.

"If something happens and we debrief, there are now three units 
debriefing," said Insp. Daryl Goetz. " If intelligence does 
something, we debrief and we learn from it. Now all three units learn 
about the positives and the areas we can improve."

Training is being tailored to meet the needs of the officers in the 
new division. Kitchener Rangers coach Steve Spott is scheduled to 
talk about team building this month. A psychologist will address 
unique professional stressors.

A representative from professional standards has also been invited to 
address pitfalls like police corruption.

"We're really overloading them on the training, on the leadership and 
values of this new division just to mitigate the risk," Askin said.

"Being a police officer is a dangerous job in the first place, but 
these are the high risk areas."

The three branches will move into a newly-renovated wing at headquarters.

The idea is to provide one access point for other branches and police services.

It will save time and money and make enforcement more effective, 
Goetz said. All three branches will now be have more information from 
across the region and neighbouring jurisdictions -- something that is 
becoming increasingly important as crime trends become more fluid, 
crossing jurisdictions.

"Having that one place for other services to come to will reduce the 
ability of criminals to come into our community and remain 
anonymous," Goetz said.

The new division has been up and running since the beginning of 
December, but will move when renovations are complete.

Just how the reorganization will be felt by residents of Waterloo 
Region is yet to be seen.

But establishing an intelligence-led, collaborative environment for 
those tasked with taking down some of the worst offenders can only 
mean good things for the community, Askin said.

"We've got high expectations of these officers, but they are very 
good at their jobs and they are relentless in their pursuit of these 
type of people."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom