Timmins police chief says plan in place to deal with recent resignations

The chief of the Timmins Police Service, Daniel Foy, told CTV News after the police board meeting Wednesday that plans are in the works to attract new officers to the city and keep existing officers on the force long-term.

This as two constables recently tendered their resignations, making it six officers to resign in the last two months.

Foy couldn’t share more details but said during the meeting that exit interviews were conducted to better understand why the officers decided to leave.

One constable was on the force for eight years, the other hired just three years ago.

"We have plans to address resignations, we're working with the board,” Foy said in an interview.

The resignations reflect a province-wide issue of staffing shortages among police services, along with higher instances of crime.

Foy said amid recent spikes in break-and-enters, officers may sometimes take longer to complete investigations but that the success rate has not been significantly affected.

Timmins police announced two arrests in connection with several break-ins at a South Porcupine neighbourhood pharmacy in the last few weeks.

"I’m very proud to see … even though it takes us a few weeks to solve a crime, that we're able to advance many investigations with great success,” Foy said.

"We attend the occurrences as quickly as we can. We will continue to do that for our community, despite the challenges that we face now. We're working hard, between management and the front line, to achieve that."