ACTION Getting Traction

In its first two weeks the Hamilton police ACTION team has made 38 arrests and seized $13,643 worth of drugs.

The Addressing Crime Trends in our Neighbourhoods (ACTION) team is intended to be a highly visible group of Hamilton police officers walking or cycling through neighbourhoods with a focus on driving out violence and disorder. It is partly funded through $560,000 in funding from the Provincial Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (PAVIS) earmarked for communities dealing with gun and gang violence.

The 43 member team has been split into groups of eight, plus two supervisors. They have split the downtown core into six to eight block quadrants, said Staff Sergeant Mark Cox.

“It’s a throwback to the old days, walking the beat and talking to people,” he said. “It’s grassroots policing.”

By patrolling on foot or by bike officers are noticing things that may not be obvious to officers in a cruiser, or that officers can’t stop for, Cox said.

On May 11 around 2:30 p.m. ACTION team members saw a car illegally parked within three metres of a fire hydrant at John Street North and King William Street.  Conversation with the 31-year-old Hamilton man with the vehicle revealed he was in breach of a previous release.