On Wednesday, May 18, the provincial government announced an investment into 1,000 new police officers for across Ontario.
Recruiting is expected to begin in the fall of 2005, with the first new officers entering the Ontario Police College for training next spring.
The first graduates from the program are expected to start working in the summer of 2006.
Half of the new officers will go into community policing, which includes neighbourhood patrols, visiting schools and youth venues and increased traffic enforcement.
The remaining 500 officers will support the six key areas identified by the government in the fight against crime in Ontario, which are youth crime, guns and gangs, organized crime, dangerous offenders, domestic violence and protecting children from Internet luring and child pornography.
It's not known exactly how many new officers will be patrolling the streets of Northern communities just yet.
