“Right after that initial situation has been defused and safe we need to bring in the medical healthcare clinicians to work with that individual to see what it is those people need to assist them.”
Chief Callaghan believes putting a lot of people in jail is not the answer to building a better society.
The Chief said there will always be people that deserve and need to be jailed for the good of the community but added there needs to more help available to those people experiencing their first “brush with the law”.
“… and we need to ensure that we are working within an intervention and diversion component to keep people out of the judicial system.”
Chief Callaghan said police have been trying to lock people up for many years but the system hasn’t worked well because the number of people ending up back in jail after being released has remained too high.
Meanwhile Chief Callaghan says the Belleville Police Service is doing a really good job of community outreach.
Many Belleville police officers volunteer their time on special children’s programs, Crime Stoppers, the Children’s Safety Village, and the Cops ‘n Kids fishing derbies.
“It’s showing that we’re not only dealing with people when there are times of crisis but we’re also dealing with them when we are able to provide them with the necessities that they need so that in good times and in bad we want to be there for both of those times.”
Last April Belleville police officers and others volunteered their time to deliver food, water, and other items to people who were shut in because of the COVID-19 lockdown.
That effort continued for several weeks.
