OPP opens new liaison office at Fort High

An intensified partnership between police and Fort Frances High School was made official last night during the opening of the OPP’s liaison office there.
The new office, located off the entrance of the school library, will serve as a place where students can drop by to talk to an on-duty officer about everything from Crime Stoppers to a career in policing–a service which had Fort High principal Ian Simpson thrilled.
“I think it will be very well-used,” he noted. “Over the past two years, we’ve really gotten into the spirit of co-operating with the OPP. And there’s been a decrease in the number of incidents here each year.
“It’s really paid off.
“The OPP liaison officer isn’t here to catch kids but to provide a rapport with the students and provide information,” Simpson added.
Simpson remarked the benefits of the relationship would be two-fold.
“This will work to maintaining a safe school environment. And when students leave here in four years, they’ll be acquainted with the OPP, and what they do, for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Several people on hand for last night’s ribbon-cutting ceremony gave a few words on the new liaison office.
“It’s not a new partnership–it’s the extension of one that already existed,” noted Fort High vice-principal Gord McCabe.
“Just as the students need lockers, the officers need a room here. With the new facility, we have the room to do that,” he added. “Welcome to your new room.”
But mentioned most was several parties’ teamwork in getting the office off the ground.
“This is my second year with the Rainy River District School Board, and I’ve been thrilled to see our co-operation with the police in so many ways,” said Education Director Warren Hoshizaki.
“I’m sure this will be beneficial to the school.”
Likewise, Coun. Sharon Tibbs, chair of the Community Policing Committee, applauded the co-operation involved in establishing it. “It’s good to see us acting proactively and not reactively. Way to go, people,” she remarked.
Fort Frances OPP S/Sgt. Hugh Dennis also gave his nod of approval.
“I would like to thank the officers who worked towards this. I know all the officers, including myself, are pleased to be able to come here and work at this facility,” he said before thanking Patti Jo Reid, chair of the School Violence Prevention Team.
The office will be manned by an officer as often as possible, said Cst. Al MacDonald, who spearheaded the initiative.
The office contains not only a desk and chairs for an officer and students to sit down, but pamphlets and videos about police work.
And when no students are visiting, officers can spend their time walking around the school or in the office, filling out any reports they may have been doing back at the detachment anyway.
A sign outside the office indicates when an officer is there, and makes it clear to every student where the liaison office is. The white sandwich board-type sign with lights on it was purchased thanks to a donation from the Northern Lights Credit Union.
Finally, a Crime Stoppers tip box was installed outside the office to let students help stop crime in their school.