There will soon be 12 new Windsor police officers patrolling the downtown core.
On Wednesday, the Windsor Police Services Board approved hiring 12 new officers for the "Problem-Oriented Police Unit," also referred to as the 'POP' unit.
The special unit will focus on drugs and crime in the city centre.
"It would be dedicated to our "Problem Orientated Policing Unit" specifically at this point downtown to deal with the issues that we're seeing related to mental health, the opioid addiction and things that go along with that," says Police Board Chair and Mayor Drew Dilkens. "We see an uptick in property crime, we see an uptick in violent crime and we want to make sure that we curve that, make sure the residents in our community are safe."
Dilkens expects the hiring to start later this year.
"Having these additional officers in the downtown core will allow those types of calls to be dealt with in a more immediate manner and we know that impacts quality for residents especially in the downtown core and that's what we're focused on addressing," he says.
Chief Al Frederick says the base budget annually for the new unit will be around $1.4 million.
He adds the unit will have four first class officers along with second, third and fourth class officers.