Chatham-Kent’s police services board got more details of a nearly $100,000 provincial grant to enhance local victim supports during sensitive investigations.
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Project Waypoint will be geared to human trafficking, child exploitation and intimate partner violence probes.
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Chatham-Kent police will receive a $99,835 grant, the Solicitor General’s Ministry announced in September.
The province has spent more than $4 million across Ontario to help support victims, police Chief Gary Conn told the board at the Dec. 13 meeting.
“This funding will be used to cross-train our interviewers in partnership with LinCK,” the local children’s services agency, he said. “It’s going to be evidence-based interviewing techniques.
“This will also provide us with a consistent approach to interviewing, and also, more importantly, reduce trauma and improve outcomes,” Conn added.
In addition to training, some funding is earmarked for public awareness and education, technological advancements and other measures, including:
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- Improving interview spaces using evidence-based and trauma-informed guidelines.
- Technology to assist in detection, extraction and categorization of data in online child exploitation investigations.
- Educational campaigns related to human trafficking and child exploitation.
Conn added the service is committed to “prioritizing the safety and well-being of victims,” while offering them support and ensuring their physical security.
Police won’t directly train LinCK child and youth workers, he said in response to a question from the board.
“They have their own training,” he said. “It’s just so that the training is congruent.”
The provincial funding is being delivered through the Victim Support Grant program, which is part of Ontario’s Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy and complements the province’s five-year, $307-million Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy, and 2021 Combating Human Trafficking Act.
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