STRATFORD POLICE CELEBRATE 150-YEAR MILESTONE

Organized crime, drug grow houses, white collar crime.

All right here in Stratford.

Modern crimes have slowly but surely worked their way into our
community, just as they have in other municipalities across the country.

Marijuana grow houses and meth labs and the increasingly popular
computer and banking frauds are reality in the Festival City.

That's in addition to more traditional crimes - assaults, liquor and
drug offences, highway traffic act violations.

The crimes may have changed but so has the approach to fighting
crime.

Stratford Police Services, celebrating its 150th birthday today,
continues to try to stay ahead of crime and in touch with an
ever-changing community.

"What fits the needs of the community, fits the needs of our police
service," said police chief Gerry McEwin. "We like to think we are
progressive and we stay in tune with the community. We have to work
very hard ensuring that we maintain the public trust to function properly."

Ensuring the needs of the community are met is one of the top
priorities for the city's police force, he said.

Technology is ever changing in a computer-driven society, so training
is a key to keeping staff up to date as the police service moves
forward, said the chief.

"It's a constant learning curve. We have to watch how others do
business and see what things we can better using technology. There
needs to be more training to rise to the challenge of computer
technology-driven crime. It's almost come down to the need for a
specialized law enforcement officer, someone that is dedicated to that
particular crime and the knowledge and technology that is being used."

"People can go into a computer now and steal money from
accounts."

The future may bring more sophisticated crimes, but it will also bring
more need from the public to join in the fight. Economic realities for
the police force make getting everything they ask for a tough task and
often they have to make do.

"There will always be scrutiny for what we do. Today there are more
and more demands on the resources we have. There is only so much money
to go around."

Still, says Chief McEwin, the police must continue to try to stay
ahead.

"We have to respond to current and emerging challenges and the
priorities of our community. When we did a business plan we sent out a
survey and we got a very high response back telling us what the
community priorities are. Now the community is telling us what they
see as a priority and we have to respond to those."

"We need to make sure the quality of life is there."