Editor's Note: In our March 31 print edition we pay tribute to the city's first responders as we pass the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Delta Police philosophy of ‘No call too small’ certainly took a bit of a hit during the pandemic, but as restrictions are lifting, the community should expect to see a higher visibility of officers at community events.
That’s a promise from Deputy Chief Harj Sidhu who said getting officers out into the community will be a major focus in the coming months.
“The impact of the pandemic was significant because it created an isolation, not just from within the public, but also within organizations,” he said. “We did have to, in some ways, wall ourselves off in order to do our jobs. How do we keep our people safe? How do we keep our community safe? We did have to adjust our service delivery model, which is fully built on having that direct visibility and presence within our community through the various aspects of the model.
“We had to limit contact with the public and that was a big issue because it put barriers up between us and the community.”
He said there have been some positives from the pandemic including having the ability to work remotely, virtual training, and enhanced interactions with other agencies.
“Virtual does have a place, so moving forward, I think we will be in a bit of a hybrid model for some things,” he said. “For me, I want to see us out there and being more visible, so that means more things like bike patrols, interacting with people in the community, more neighbourhood meetings…more boots on the ground…to engage and have more direct contact with our citizens.”
Sidhu said as community events come back, citizens can expect to see more DPD officers taking part.
“These have always been great ways for our officers to connect with the community and are important for us to be a part of – both from a safety stand-point, but also from a connection to the community,” he said. “Police Day in May is back, which will help us to open the doors and get us back out into the community. Our District Community Police offices are open again and our volunteers are working with our officers again, which is great for us.”
Sidhu said throughout the pandemic, the hiring of new officers didn’t stop, but what did stop was some of the training and work within the community.
“These officers have never operated within a full Delta Police service delivery model, because that was restricted, so that is something I’m very excited about. We get the chance to show these young people what it is like to police in Delta,” he said.
Overall, Sidhu says he was very proud of how Delta responded to the pandemic.
“I’ve been here 28 years and every time Delta has a crisis, the community rises up and supports each other and that was no different in this circumstance,” he said. “We had to pivot on how we provided the service delivery and people understood that, they understood that our officers had to call them on the phone rather than visit in person. I think the community was very supportive, they understood the changes that we had to make.”
