The Ontario Provincial Police in Wellington County are ready to launch their Community Response Unit as a replacement for the now ended School Resource Officer Program that was ended the Upper Grand District School Board.
The program launches officially in September and has been in the works since last year.
It will see four existing OPP officers transition to Community Response and the four former school based officer return to regular patrol.
The largest change with the transition is that the focus for the four officers will be on the community at large and their working with area youth, a broader focus than just a school mandate as was previous.
Interacting with youth is something police are looking to strengthen through a Youth Advisory Council. Younger members of the community would have meetings with police once a month for a few hours in meetings that would occur during the school year.
