A plan to add 12 more officers to downtown Windsor can begin immediately, according to Windsor's chief of police.
Chief Jason Ballaire told Monday's council meeting they can reassign officers to the core while they work to recruit 12 new officers to the force.
City council voted unanimously to approve an over $3.2 million plan aimed at revitalizing and improving safety in downtown Windsor.
The plan includes $1.3 million in funding to add 12 more police officers to address drug use and disorderly conduct downtown while working with health and social services, along with discouraging loitering and panhandling on medians and in front of empty storefronts and residential buildings in the downtown core.
Bellaire also told council that the expansion of the H4 is important because it will give police somewhere to take people who are in crisis and in need of support outside a hospital when their actions are not criminal in nature.
Nearly $1.4 million will be spent to cover expanded hours of operation and staffing at the Homelessness and Housing Help Hub (H4), ensuring people who are unhoused have a facility they can access prior to the opening of overnight emergency shelters.
Chief Bellaire told council that having other partners on board, a more robust H4, and services available at the times people need them will help.
"Now that we're putting a plan together and our partners are emerging strong and participating, we're going to be providing what I believe are the services people need at the time that they need them," he says.
Bellaire also told council that this plan will only be successful if the partnerships are there, or they will end up where they've always been.
"Police come in and aggressively surge into an area to try and create stability in terms of social disorder and provide a feeling and perception of safety, we will only be able to do that if the other partners say what they're going to do," he says.
Bellaire details that where they've had difficulties is that they've had no where to take people who are below the threshold of being admitted to the hospital and are not acting criminally.
"This plan speaks to that. It's an H4 that's more than what it was. It's commitments from other partners coming to the table saying they are going to do more, and that changes the dynamic," he adds.
The plan also includes another $217,000 to be spent to add more auxiliary police officers in downtown parks and on trails.