The kids all know us by name

When Halifax Regional Police constables Kathryn Willett and Aaron Head pull into their Fundy Lane community office in Dartmouth, they become the focus of attention.
If there are kids around, it seems they have to run over to see the two community response officers assigned to Dartmouth's Scotia Court.
"The kids all know us by name and they all want to say hello when they see us," Willett said.
Once assigned to the area, Willett and Head set to work trying to make a difference in the lives of its residents as community response officers, or CROs.
The idea of community response grew out of series of town hall meetings beginning in 2001, where residents expressed concerns about police visibility and the response to all types of issues ranging from crime, youth complaints and community safety.
The first thing Willett and Head did was rally the community to work with them to address some of its fundamental issues. They got involved with the Tenants Association and helped increase its membership.
They worked with tenants to get a community garden started. This winter, their project is to convert a baseball diamond into an outdoor skating rink and round up enough donated skates for the children in the neighbourhood who can't afford a pair.
They're working with Feed Nova Scotia to open a local food bank in a unit donated by Metro Housing.
Head explains that as community response officers, their goal is to respond to the needs of the community they serve, as well as being police officers.
"We work as a team to find the resources for this community," he said. "If we don't find them, we create them."
Both Willett and Head are proud of the work they've accomplished thus far in Scotia Court. The food bank project is enormously important to many residents who live below the poverty line, often in single parent families.
"It was a huge thing for us to get the food bank established here," Willett said. "It's going to make a difference."
Willett said that while the projects they undertake aren't traditional police work, they are establishing a rapport with members of the community that will ultimately make Scotia Court a safer place to live.
Willett and Head are winning the respect of the tenants in Scotia Court by talking with them and letting them know they're here to make their community safer.
The Community Response Office is part of a team including dedicated beat officers assigned to the neighbourhood, patrol units and the area's school officers.
For Willett and Head, tackling some of the root causes of crime will make the community better in the long run, but they realize they also have to deal with criminal activity.
"We're here to help, but we also have a job to do," Head said.
The east Dartmouth division office
number is 490-5171.
Halifax Regional Police is committed to working with communities and residents to stamp out crime and improving the quality of life in HRM. This column will highlight some of the work of the police in your district.