London police have opened a community engagement center inside Masonville mall as part of a six-month pilot project.
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The office, which has been operating since December inside the mall at 1680 Richmond St., is part of the force’s strategy to build trust within the community by providing officers, civilian staffers and auxiliary members with a way to interact with citizens, police officials said Friday.
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The office will be staffed on weekends from noon to 3 pm and also will be used to host engagement sessions on topics such as crime prevention and recruitment outside of those hours, police said.
Deputy Chief Paul Bastien thanked Cadillac Fairview, the Toronto-based company that owns and operates the north-end mall, for providing the space for free for six months.
“This partnership is a great opportunity for us to engage with the community on a personal level, to share information, to answer questions, and to get to know each other a little,” Bastien said in a statement. “We encourage all Londoners to stop in and see us.”
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The Masonville office is the second satellite office London police have opened in recent years.
In 2022, police opened an office for its community foot patrol at 183 Dundas St., just east of Richmond Street along downtown’s Dundas Place flex street. The decision to open the downtown office, located roughly seven blocks from police headquarters, was made following consultations with core business owners and was designed to help London police be more visible in the city’s downtown, police officials said at the time.
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