One way to reduce the cost of St. Thomas Police Services

With fuel prices continuing to rise, St. Thomas Police services should be doing their part to help.

St. Thomas Police Officers should spend part of their time patrolling city streets on foot. Having officers walk such streets as Edward, Balaclava, Centre, Elm and Wellington, to name just a few, on a daily basis, would allow the community to see that Police are out and about, and would allow the Police to better know the community, and the community to better know the Police.

I know of several people who would like to talk with Police about incidents that are occurring on their street, but are unable or unwilling to do so, after being told by the Police that the Police are “too busy”.

With the continuing increase in fuel and maintenance of Police vehicles, having some Police officers patrolling on foot would reduce the amount of fuel consumed by Police cars, and reduce the maintenance necessary on these vehicles. This would allow the Police to become “greener” from an environmental standpoint.

While many Police vehicles are out and about on city streets, many Police vehicles sit idling in plaza or business parking lots for an extended amount of time.

I realize that in some situations this is necessary, for example, at the intersection of Woodworth and Edward, where Police often sit in wait for people who ignore the stop signs at this dangerous intersection.

In other instances, Police will sit in their vehicles in other lots from between 30 minutes to 60 minutes, with their vehicle idling. During these times, fuel is consumed, costing the taxpayers of the City of St. Thomas.

I feel that these suggestions would better both the St. Thomas Police Services, and the St. Thomas community, allowing for better co-operation, understanding, and cost savings.