September 27, 2018: Neilly’s Neighbourhood; Meet the Central West CPO.

September 27, 2018: Neilly’s Neighbourhood;
Meet the Central West CPO.

By Cst. Dawn Neilly.

Now that we’ve hopefully got the kids safely off to school, I thought I’d take the opportunity with this issue to explain a little bit about my role as a Community Police Officer (CPO) as most of you will only know me through this paper.

You may never have to call 911 to ask for the services of a police officer – that’s good! – but it doesn’t hurt to know that there’s an officer available to help with non-emergency issues that might crop up from time to time. And that would be me, Cst. Dawn Neilly, if you live in the area served by this paper.

My responsibility extends from Old train tracks at Somerset Bridge to Churchill Avenue and from the Ottawa River to Carling Avenue plus a bump on the other side of Carling around the Merivale and Caldwell area.

Central West, as it’s called, is a high-density area with the full range of diversity and socio-economic levels represented. My job requires me to engage with all residents as needed. This includes attending community events to reach out to kids and their parents; meetings with community safety groups; working with various organizations/community partners, such as the councillor’s office, the food bank, community health centres, and so on, to resolve ongoing community issues that require police oversight, such as problem addresses, drugs and theft.

In addition to dealing with systemic problems in the community as a whole, I am available to help with issues involving individuals such as in ongoing neighbour disputes. The key word here is “ongoing”. As a CPO, I keep regular hours from Monday to Friday, working out of the Hintonburg Community Centre, carrying out tasks as outlined above, so I am not in the best position to respond to incidents when they happen, that should be a call to the Ottawa Police for a patrol officer to attend. If needed, I can follow up to help mediate the dispute.

Working with a group of dedicated volunteers, I can reach out to the community to promote safety and security at home and in the community. My contact with the community at large is through this regular Newswest spot and an online Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin. You can sign up to receive this by emailing wellingtoncpc@gmail.com to subscribe. And you’re always welcome to visit our office to discuss a specific situation, or give me a call at 613-236-1222, ext. 5871. See you around.

Photo Caption: Cst Dawn Neilly at a Parkdale Park Summer celebration. Along with regular police duties, Cst Neilly often attends community events in neighbourhoods throughout her working area. Photo by T. Hairbach.