Ward 12 Greater Sudbury city council candidate Shawn Ouimet says he's canvassed the whole ward, and says he's noticed a lot of crime.
He says he “believes in more neighbourhood watch programs and additional volunteers for all corners of the ward are needed, which can report back to police officers.”
Ouimet also thinks because police officers are overburdened with paper work that can keep them off of the streets, Greater Sudbury Police should hire lower-paid employees who can do some of that paperwork.
“It’s not out of the box thinking, it’s talking to city employees (front line workers) and researching what best practices are being done in other cities and possibly implementing them in our community,” he said.
“That is what residents of Ward 12 and Greater Sudbury expect from our council, to be fiscally smart and look for the best options and how to spend their tax dollars.”
Full text of Ouimet's news release can be seen below:
Shawn Ouimet has canvassed all of Ward 12, he has noticed a lot of crime throughout the ward including New Sudbury and Minnow Lake and believes in more neighbourhood watch programs and additional volunteers for all corners of the ward are needed, which can report back to police officers.
The incumbent Mayor believes we need more police, however the Ward 12 candidate has actually spoken to Greater Sudbury police officers and officers in other cities, and he is not so sure that more is needed.
He did notice one big thing not done here in Greater Sudbury that he believes impedes our officers from giving a higher presence and keeping our neighbourhoods safe.
He goes onto mention the amount of paperwork each officer does is incredible compared to any other city in Ontario, did you know a DUI could take up to 4 hours’ worth of paperwork, a house break in could be 2 or more hours.
This one officer could be doing paperwork for half of their shift with to two incidences. Shawn Ouimet is unsure the hourly rates for an officer are but for his example let’s say $50 an hour; could the city afford to hire more officers at this wage and then have those additional officers doing more paperwork, which would keep the new officer in an office too?
He goes on to ask would it not be more fiscally feasible to hire 2 clergy persons to type out all the reports much like all the other large cities in Ontario currently do.
This clergy person if paid $25 an hour could mean hiring two people for one officer’s wage and that officer’s time can be better spent on the streets protecting and serving our community.
“It’s not out of the box thinking, it’s talking to city employees (front line workers) and researching what best practices are being done in other cities and possibly implementing them in our community. That is what residents of ward 12 and Greater Sudbury expect from our council, to be fiscally smart and look for the best options and how to spend their tax dollars.”
Shawn Ouimet is a candidate for ward 12. shawnouimet.ca
For more on Ouimet's candidacy, visit his Sudbury.com election page.
