London police chief looks back at 2021
Global News
Looking back, 2020 was a unique year when it came to policing during the start of COVID-19, and 2021 was no different in London, Ont.
Looking back, 2020 was a unique year when it came to policing during the start of COVID-19, and 2021 was no different in London, Ont.
London police Chief Steve Williams said there were a lot of challenges police faced, from officer burnout to the types of calls they responded to daily.
Williams estimates that since the start of 2021, they have received more than 70,000 calls for service, up from 2020. He said there was a dip in calls for 2020, but the numbers for this year were very similar to 2019.
“The time we spend on roughly the same number of calls from a couple of years ago is quite a bit longer,” Williams said.
Williams noted that not unlike other areas, London has seen an increase in guns in the community, with more officers finding them in regular searches and not just investigations.
In 2020, London saw four murders, compared with 13 this year, which Williams said is a concern but hopefully not a new pattern.
In August, London police and several local health-care organizations launched the Community Outreach and Support Team, or COAST.
The program partners two mental health professionals with a police officer to reduce police-led responses to mental health or addictions crisis situations, and improve outcomes for those involved by making sure they get the care they need in the appropriate setting.
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