Community programming officer Monica Rae joined the Estevan Police Service (EPS) in November 2018 and has stayed busy reaching out to organizations and agencies since then.
During the Estevan board of police commissioners meeting, EPS Chief Paul Ladouceur explained that as a pilot project they decided to try to move the position of the community programming officer to civilian. That allowed them to decrease costs by almost $50,000 a year and also overcome difficulties which come with the duality of this work.
“We had officers in the schools before and there was always that dilemma of you are arresting the student one day and now you are being the best buddy from the police services the next day. How do you create that trust and open this for students and people when you are playing both roles?” said Ladouceur.
Having a background in social work Rae was quite successful in meeting the position requirements.
Over the last several months she has had the opportunity to meet various individuals representing organizations and agencies in the community including but not limited to the Southeast Newcomer Services, Creighton Lodge, Estevan Regional Nursing Home, St. Joseph’s Hospital’s long-term care, Hillview Manor, Southeast Regional Library, youth addiction services, youth probation services, Salvation Army, United Way Estevan, Estevan Family Resource Centre, Red Cross, Warm Welcome Kitchen, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Southeast Regional Victim Services, Angel Tree, RCMP and others.
Rae also met with local school administrators and counsellors and has been welcomed to participate in a variety of events and activities. She attended an RCMP cannabis presentation and was involved with many other community events often along with other EPS officers.
Starting early April Rae will be delivering the drug awareness presentations, developed in conjunction with many organizations including the RCMP, addiction services, probation services, MADD, South East Cornerstone Public School Division, Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division and others.
“She’ll be conducting drug awareness presentations to Grades 4-6 and Grades 7-11 at all the schools along with community partners. Two presentations to be delivered to each school in these divisions this spring,” Ladouceur said.
In the near future, Rae also plans to provide a presentation for the Estevan Public Library, a town hall event with MADD and presentations at Hillview Manor and Creighton Lodge. She also plans to participate in the Day of Caring with the United Way, mental health first aid training in partnership with Victim Services, EPS and other community activities.
Summarizing the report on the community programming officer’s activities, Ladouceur noted that Rae has been doing remarkable work over such a short period of time.
The final evaluation is to be done at the end of the pilot project in about seven months from now.
