Timmins police chief walks the beat downtown

Timmins Police Chief Dan Foy and his senior level officers have taken to 'walking the beat' in the city's downtown. They are visiting the various alleyways, looking for people who may need help and they're dropping in on business owners to learn more about their concerns.

“It’s up to us to maybe lead the way and lead by example and we certainly can’t ask something of our officers that we’re not willing and ready to do ourselves," said Inspector Richard Blanchette with the Timmins Police Service.

He and the chief said the social issues Timmins is experiencing are also happening in cities throughout the country.

"We’re seeing addiction, we’re seeing mental health issues, we’re seeing calls people requiring us to get involved because there’s violence involved," said Chief Foy.

Foy said he's gone out on foot patrol every day this past week because calls for help from business owners have increased.

“They’re calling us with suggestions, ideas, and we’ve met them at the office and go out and meet them in their environment and try to get ideas from them on how we can best tailor our services," added Foy.

A jewelry store owner, Helmut Busch said their initiative is a "tremendous good start" and he would welcome the chief and his officers to pay him a visit.

“I’d love to sit down and chat with them because I’ve been here since 1962 and I’ve seen the changes from years to years and it’s not for the better unfortunately," added Busch.

Busch said a break-in attempt at his store three weeks ago was unsuccessful because of the bars he installed in the windows.

"I myself don’t feel safe walking to the post office or the bank because I’ve been confronted twice and I’m not happy with this kind of system that we have," he told CTV News.

Police said a team approach is needed to mitigate social issues in the city.

“It’s mental health, it’s addiction services, there’s a whole bunch of areas within the city that we need to pull together to help them, so be patient, we’re doing the best we can," said Blanchette.

Timmins Police has recently introduced an Alternative Response Unit which attends low priority calls when time permits, alleviating the pressure when officers are attending other situations.