Grant money bringing Sarnia police, victim services closer

Victim Services of Sarnia-Lambton is going to be working closer with Sarnia police to help people affected by intimate partner violence.

Police recently received a $99,000 provincial government Victim Support Grant, the bulk of which is going towards embedding a victim services co-ordinator into police’s criminal investigations division, police deputy chief Julie Craddock said.

“It will allow (victim services) access to information so that they can do that outreach and support for victims and survivors,” she said

The victim service’s official will receive all incidents of intimate partner violence to provide outreach in a “timely manner,” Craddock said, adding “we know that the psychological impacts are very different for somebody that is violated by somebody they’ve been in a close relationship with, and that often they really experience this profound loss of safety and security.”

If police continue that partnership beyond the one year the grant funding covers, it would likely mean adding to the police operating budget, she said.

The rest of the grant money, meanwhile, is going to training for front-line officers, she said.

That includes investigation training through the Ontario police college, private company training in using the Be Safer tool for risk assessment, and trauma-informed training from the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Center of Sarnia-Lambton, she said.

“One of the things that we are asking our front-line members to do is look at underlying risk factors” like mental health, addictions, or food or housing instability, she said.

“That allows us to … investigate that initial call while we’re there, but also see if there’s an opportunity to connect individuals who are experiencing IPV (intimate partner violence) or family dispute types of calls, seeing if we can connect them with other community agencies.”

Training is also designed to make sure that those who come forward to report intimate partner violence are supported, she said.

“Because we know once somebody comes forward and reports, that’s really just the beginning.”

Intimate partner violence investigations have been increasing in Sarnia, she said, noting there were 1,097 calls for service in 2023 as of Friday, and that’s up 12 per cent compared to last year.

Family violence calls stood at 596, up 22 per hundred year over year, she said, adding “sometimes there is a connection between the two.”

Lambton County council earlier this month declared intimate partner violence in Sarnia-Lambton an epidemic and called on the provincial government to take action, including providing more money for service agencies and for transitional housing.

This grant is not related, Craddock said.

“It is a coincidence at this time,” she said, noting police applied for intimate partner violence, but could have also applied for human trafficking, or child exploitation victim and survivor support.

Hopes are to create an “action table” via the county’s oversight committee for it’s community safety and well-being plan “to really look at what is happening in the community and where there are gaps in services” when it comes to intimate partner violence, she said.

Not all officers will receive training via the grant, but the aim is to have some trained on every front-line platoon, she said.

The money only goes so far, she said, adding police are grateful nonetheless.

Hopes are to build on the training in future years, she said, “either through our own training budget, or additional funding opportunities that may arise.”

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