Educational Outreach Is A Year-Round Effort For Altona Police

The Altona Police Service has been distributing Community Safety Net educational resources to area kids each spring for many years. Sadly, the forum for the presentation — Ag Safety Day, a community event spearheaded by Golden West Broadcasting and sponsored by many local companies — was cancelled this past May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Ag Safety Day was an unfortunate casualty of the public health emergency, the Manitoba communities of Plum Coulee and Altona remain well-served when it comes to safety education for young people.

According to Police Chief Perry Batchelor, his organization conducts numerous safety-oriented initiatives throughout the year. From lectures on drug safety to pre-teens and teenagers, reading sessions with pre-school aged children, and info sessions on topics such as fraud prevention to senior citizens — there’s no shortage of community-focused safety education going on.

“Any positive interaction with police is a plus in my books,” said Batchelor.

In addition to targeted presentations, the Altona Police Service also runs annual bike rodeos for middle school kids and is also involved with driver education programming and internet safety classes.

And while the annual Community Safety Net initiative was interrupted in 2020, its longstanding popularity and effectiveness ensure that it will remain a valuable component of the Altona Police Service’s ongoing efforts.

Chief Batchelor is a fan of the CSN program both because of its important, relevant content — which always elicits a positive response from the kids — and also that it’s made possible by community support.

“Parent and community feedback has been positive and I believe that those who support Community Safety Net do so because they see the value in positive interaction with police. I believe our service works hard to gain and maintain the trust of the communities we serve.”

Though he spent the first part of his career with the Canadian Armed Forces, law enforcement runs in the Batchelor family. Chief Batchelor’s father was head of the Gretna Police, and his grandfather was a member of the Manitoba Provincial Police. His son and daughter-in-law are both with the Winnipeg Police Service — making it four generations of policing to date.

And with decades of police service under his belt, including the last 10 years in the chief’s chair, Batchelor is a firm believer in the importance of community outreach, safety education, and connecting with young people.

“The intent of our teaching is to hopefully influence behavior. This is accomplished through constant messaging and reinforcement by the teachers in attendance at our lectures. At the end of the day, we hope that we influence the choices youth make in a positive way.”