POLICE ON THE HOTSEAT AT PUBLIC MEETING

As expected, the top brass at Hamilton Police Service was grilled by
Flamborough residents Monday night at a Community Safety Forum in Waterdown.

The major complaints centred around lengthy police response times and
the lack of police visibility in the area. There was also talk about
drug use, particularly marijuana, by high school students throughout
Hamilton and traffic problems on Waterdown's gridlocked Dundas Street.

Police Chief Brian Mullan's recital of statistics showing that
Flamborough's calls for service (on average, about one call every 24
hours) are much lower than other parts of Hamilton didn't sidetrack
residents from asking for more policing. Several of the 20 residents
at the meeting felt that Flamborough's current service of four patrol
units isn't sufficient.

Pointing out that Flamborough's population is on the rise, Waterdown
resident Peter Kalman asked, "Is there some magic formula based on
population or crime stats to get additional policing?" Chief Mullan
said the Police Service "hasn't lost sight of the growth rate" and
Deputy Chief Tom Marlor is in the process of looking at current
staffing across the city to determine if there is need for expansion
in particular areas.

Bob Jarrett, a retired chartered accountant whose Milburough Line
home has been broken into three times in the last year-and-a-half,
talked about the unacceptability of police response times of 45
minutes to an hour. He said he pays $834 on his tax bill for police
services and doesn't believe he is getting his money's worth.

Jarrett estimated that Flamborough residents contribute about $7
million to $8 million in police costs annually.

"How do you justify having four officers for $1 million to $1.5
million?" he asked. "We either deserve a huge tax refund or a huge
increase in service," he said.

Chief Mullan responded that police service in Flamborough includes
more than four beat cars. Several plainclothes officers work in the
area, as well as division safety and school liaison officers. Police
services also include shared resources, such as tactical squads,
accident reconstruction teams and major crime unit personnel, the chief said.

Shelley Scott, director of Flamborough Information and Community
Services which works in partnership with the area's Crime Activity
Prevention (CAP) program, suggested that part of the challenge in
policing the Flamborough area lies with its rural character. A recent
survey revealed that 30 to 40 per cent of respondents living in rural
Flamborough didn't report break-and-enters.

Rural residents are aware of the longer response times and often
elect to look after things for themselves, Flamborough councilor
Margaret McCarthy told the crowd.

"They're pretty much self-policing," she said of the rural residents.
"Geographically, culturally and economically, we are different," she
said, asking that police take note of the area's unique nature and
"appreciate our difference."

Chief Mullan pledged that findings of the local survey undertaken
last winter will be reviewed and considered when police draw up a new
business plan which will run from January, 2007 to December, 2009.

The chief and about 10 other police personnel at the community forum
- - including the new superintendent for Division 3, Ken Bond - heard
Waterdown resident Michael Kondrat recite his frustrating experience
of holding a robbery suspect for police for six hours to no avail. He
eventually had to let the man go because of poor police response.

Chief Mullan assured Kondrat that Supt. Bond would get details of the
incident directly after the meeting and look into it. "We will hold
that officer accountable," he said of whoever handled the case.

Kondrat also told of a serious traffic problem near his Dundas Street
East home. Some westbound drivers, frustrated by gridlock, use the
centre turning lane of Dundas Street as an express lane near First
Street causing a traffic hazard. The problem is getting worse and
needs to be addressed, he said.

Another resident in the Hollybush/Howlandmills Drive area spoke of
the high number of tandem trucks travelling along Dundas Street and
the difficulty experienced by area residents in accessing the road.

A Safari Road woman told of a harrowing experience where she returned
home to find that someone had broken into her dwelling. Her fears and
frustration were heightened when she was "put on hold for two rounds of 911."

It also took six hours for a police officer to arrive at her home, she said.

Since the break-in occurred, she has installed a security system in
her home. But she vows that if there is a future break-in, she won't
call police but "will deal with it myself."

"We certainly don't want that," Chief Mullan said. He talked briefly
about a new policing model that will be introduced early next year
called the Neighbourhood Policing Program which will improve the
level of service on calls for service.

Councillor McCarthy, while presenting "a shopping list" of concerns
put together by CAP volunteers, suggested police officers be more
visible at Waterdown's shopping plazas.

Earlier in the meeting, a volunteer with Flamborough's Community
Policing Association warned that drug use by youth is prevalent in
and around the plazas. She suggested that many of the break-ins at
the plazas are associated with youths looking for money to support
their drug habits.

Police were also asked to target other areas, such as Gatesbury Park
in east Waterdown, where drug use and youth parties are also a concern.