KENORA — Provincial police in the city say they're committed to rolling out changes to its front-line response in Kenora after a special council meeting addressing downtown safety concerns.
Insp. Jeff Duggan, the OPP's detachment commander in Kenora, was in attendance at the public meeting, where 17 people gave deputations within the packed council chambers and approximately 1,200 people streamed online.
Duggan said in a media release sent out following the meeting that he stayed after the open forum part of the meeting was complete and met with Mayor Andrew Poirier and the rest of city council to talk about how the OPP can work together with the city to resolve the issues.
“In response to today’s meeting on downtown safety, I want to personally thank all those that came out or joined the session online,” he said. “The Ontario Provincial Police Kenora Detachment and its officers are committed to public safety and are committed to ensuring people feel safe in the downtown core.”
“We are committed to making changes to our front-line response and are committed to rolling that out as soon as we can,” he said.
After the in-camera session, Kenora city council announced three action items, which included the hiring of a community safety well-being coordinator, moving forward with the re-development of the community safety and well-being plan, and receiving a commitment for increased foot and car patrol in the downtown by the OPP.
