South Bruce OPP detachment commander Inspector Dana Earley. (Photo by Jordan MacKinnon)South Bruce OPP detachment commander Inspector Dana Earley. (Photo by Jordan MacKinnon)
Midwestern

New Commander For South Bruce OPP

The new detachment commander for South Bruce OPP says she's honoured to take on the top role.

Inspector Dana Earley took command of the detachment earlier this month, taking over the reigns from retired Inspector Scott Smith.

The 21-year veteran of the OPP has been with South Bruce OPP for the past three years as a staff sergeant and has had previous stops in Huron County, Marathon and Essex County.

She says a focus of her efforts as detachment commander will be to promote safer communities by getting the public more involved in keeping the area safe.

Earley says they have already established safe community committees in Kincardine, Brockton and Arran-Elderslie and will be looking to establish two more committees in South Bruce and Huron-Kinloss by the end of the year.

She says breaking down barriers around mental illness will also be priority for her, pointing out she wants to see mental health calls to police have less of a criminal stigma.

"It's not necessarily a police call. We are needed because of the public safety that's involved at times, but more than anything, it's a health issue. To throw us into it, it automatically looks like it's a criminal event, and not necessarily is it," says Earley.

She adds the Canadian Mental Health Association now has an urgent response team that is available to police 24-hours a day, which she believes will be a big help for police.

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