If there ever was any doubt that organized crime is infiltrating small-town Ontario, it was evident Wednesday morning in London.
At a media conference at the headquarters of the London Police Service, the results of a joint force criminal investigation were on display.
An investigation that began last year in Aylmer resulted in the arrest of four members of Outlaw Motorcycle Groups and eight associates.
The joint force initiative involved police services in St. Thomas, Aylmer and Strathroy-Caradoc with the assistance of the OPP and London Police Services.
In total 52 charges were laid in the drug trafficking investigation.
Aylmer Deputy Police Chief Kyle Johnstone says the addition of a criminal investigator last year to the ranks of the service helped move the investigation along.
Tag Archives: St. Thomas Police Service
Hospice of Elgin – ‘No longer is hospice a place for just final moments’
Following Monday’s (May 15) council session, there was a public meeting to deal with draft official plan and zoning bylaw amendments.
Now normally these are pretty cut-and-dried affairs, usually devoid of colour.
Not in this case.
The meeting dealt with amendments required at the site of Hospice of Elgin, located at the top of the hill overlooking Waterworks Park.
Part of the meeting was devoted to a short presentation from Laura Sherwood, representing Hospice of Elgin.
Through several visuals, we were able to get a first look at what the facility will look like, with construction expected to begin later this summer.
Sherwood described it as follows.
“Hospice will be quite unique in our community. We have an incredible site at Waterworks Park and hospice will be tucked in the woods and have a cottage-like feel.”
What will the facility look like?
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Land-locked STEGH at the crossroads: Rebuild or relocate?
In a deputation to city council this past Monday, members were updated on capacity issues at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital. President and CEO Karen Davies stressed that ahead of the pandemic, hospital staff and administration were already struggling as they dealt with capacity issues.
She adds it was not abnormal for the hospital to be at 100 per cent occupancy or beyond.
As noted during the presentation, there were close to 7,800 admissions last year. The hospital has 179 beds, with 30 to 40 of those beds occupied by patients who, the belief is, should have outside care.
Davies points out, with the announcement of the EV gigaplant coming to the city – and with it significant population growth – that will only exacerbate matters.
“We’ve got a great story to tell,” reminds Davies. “We were at capacity ahead of the pandemic.
“We did well throughout the pandemic but again, as we talked about the other night (at the council meeting), we’re maximized in our space here and that’s with our current population base.
“And we know it’s growing and we know we’ve got some significant investments coming to Elgin county that are going to put more pressure on that.”
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The new transparency at city hall: Your questions are fair but we don’t want to answer them.
It seemed only a matter of hours after the announcement Volkswagen was to locate its EV battery plant in St. Thomas that crews were on site felling thousands of trees in five wood lots across the 1,500-acre property.
The company involved is CLC Tree Service out of London.
A check of their website and it seems they are more of an operation focussed on tree trimming and removal of diseased or damaged trees in urban areas and not large commercial land clearing.
With heavily wooded areas across the county, is there not a local firm that could have been hired for a project of this size?
What was the tendering process involved and how many firms bid on the job?
A call to Mayor Joe Preston garnered a response of I don’t know, I wasn’t involved.
Why don’t you ask Sean Dyke over at St. Thomas Economic Development Corp?
Fair enough.
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St. Thomas Police Service strategic plan 2023-2026: ‘The police alone cannot solve the problem of crime and social disorder.”
Clarification: In an effort to establish the identity of the consulting company employed by the St. Thomas Police Service, Chief Marc Roskamp and I spoke this morning. The firm is Consilium Public Sector Services based out of Toronto, which also uses the acronym CP2S. And so any reference to the U.S.-based CP2S (which is not affiliated in any way with the Toronto firm) has been removed.
The St. Thomas Police Service this week released its road map for this year through 2026.
The strategic plan recommends “intentional steps our members will take to ensure the police service is performing in accordance with our community’s values and expectations,” according to police board chairman Dan Reith.
He continues that the priorities of the plan “have been compiled carefully from the concerns and insights offered by St. Thomas citizens, business owners, elected officials, members within the police service and other interested parties.”
Chief Marc Roskamp adds “This plan has been developed with a major emphasis on ensuring all citizens and business owners of St. Thomas, have had an opportunity to share their thoughts about the performance of our police service, and their feelings about crime and safety in our community.
“Through this process, we have identified five major areas to focus our strategic priorities over the next four years. They are; Organizational Service Review, Communications, Technology, Human Resources, and Community Partnerships.”
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Estimated meter readings are water torture for some St. Thomas customers
How’s that water bill of yours? Are you going to have to dip into your savings or line of credit to pay the latest bill?
Some city residents have received much higher bills than normal and we contacted Jim Hogan, president and CEO of Entegrus. The city of St. Thomas contracts out meter reading to the utility who, we find out, subcontracts it to a third party.
According to Hogan, the bills have been estimated readings only for several months and those estimates do not necessarily jive with actual usage.
“It’s kind of a catch-up and a balancing between some of the estimates may be a little high and some were a little low and we’re working hard to get out there to do the actual reads, to verify the actual reads.”
The money collected is then paid to the city on a contractual basis.
According to the formal agreement between the city and Ascent/St. Thomas Energy signed in April 2014, St. Thomas Energy “will pay to the municipality the water and wastewater charges billed to the customers by the end of the month following the date of invoicing.”
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Leaving ‘bookmarks as to how we can move forward’ – St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston
After a much-enjoyed two-week Christmas hiatus, City Scope returns eager to document what transpires in the new year and what got us to this point over the past 365 days.
When looking back at 2022 – the fourth and final year for the previous municipal council – St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston lists housing as the top story. And Preston is quick to add growth in the city is not going to stop any time soon.
“We’re excited with what we’ve been able to accomplish on housing and have left bookmarks as to how we can move forward.
“Yes, it’s probably the Number 1 story across Ontario and we feel very comfortable with St. Thomas at all ranges, from the homeless side to the single-family homes side, have made incredible progress.”
Preston goes on to note the work undertaken in the past four years paves the way for what needs to be accomplished on the housing front by the recently elected council.
In reflecting on other accomplishments of city council in the past year, Preston turns to the acquisition of 800 acres of farmland east of Highbury Avenue.
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‘If we’re healthy on the inside, we will be healthy on the outside to deliver services to the community’ – incoming St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp
The city’s new police chief – as of January next year – wants to ensure the St. Thomas Police Service continues to deliver services to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.
That was abundantly evident during our conversation this week with current Deputy Chief, Marc Roskamp.
He’s a 25-year veteran of the St. Thomas Police Service with 16 years in uniform patrol before moving up to the Criminal Investigation Branch and then being appointed Deputy Chief in 2018.
The announcement of the retirement of Chief Chris Herridge and the promotion of Roskamp has an added personal touch.
Born and raised in Chatham, Roskamp’s father was also involved in policing.
“My father was a police officer in Chatham and, coincidently, he retired as the chief of police for the Chatham Police Service.
“So this is quite an honour, both personally and professionally, for myself and my family.
“My research tells me it is rare to have a father and then a son reach the office of chief.”
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St. Thomas Police Chief Chris Herridge readies himself ‘for a new journey’
After a nearly 35-year career with the St. Thomas Police Service – the last five at the helm – Chief Chris Herridge, this week announced he is retiring.
“It is time for a new journey,” noted Herridge.
Speaking with Herridge minutes before the official announcement on Thursday, he confided, “It is a personal and professional decision.”
He continued, “My family, Kim and the girls, have given up so much for my career in policing.
“The time has come, I have 34-plus years when it is all said and done and it’s time to give back to them. I’m a grandfather now.”
Like an athlete hanging up the cleats or skates, Herridge stressed, “It’s time.”
Herridge observed, “People always say you will realize it. I still love this job but as much as I love it, it’s time.”
To use another sports analogy, you are best to go out on a winning or high note.
“We have made tremendous strides in transforming into one of the most professional, advanced and transparent police services in Ontario,” noted Herridge.
“Leadership is about preparing, empowering and inspiring others to lead. Continue reading
