A program designed to keep the community informed of - and active in - police business has been a success thus far, but the Toronto Police Service (TPS) is looking to get more people involved in the free subscription-based initiative.
Since it was introduced in 53 Division as a pilot project in November 2002, TPS Links has helped community members stay appraised of goings-on in their community. Since then, the service has been rolled out in other police divisions across the city. TPS Links offers information on everything from road closures and community events to missing person reports and Amber alerts. According to 53 Division community response unit Staff Sgt. Peter Henry, the service has already helped solve some crimes in the community."One example I can give is that in Leaside there were some local residents who were concerned about some robberies," he said. "We sent out an alert on TPS Links and got some positive feedback from the community that helped us get some arrests."Henry said the new system is an upgrade over the Toronto Police Service's old auto-dialer system, which had thousands of subscribers. While the new service offers more modern service, subscribers can choose to receive information by voicemail, email or text and decide what types of information they wish to receive, police are still looking to boost the number of participants."We couldn't just transfer over all the numbers in our old system to the new one, so people have to sign up again," he said. "It's really important that people sign up because they're our eyes and ears in the community when we're not around."TPS Links Coordinator Brianne Whyte said the TPS Links service has been designed to ensure participants are not bombarded with messages, which makes it more beneficial for both them and police."People will receive information about their own (police) division and it will help them help us," she said. "People do want to be empowered and do their part."Furthermore, TPS Links provides an additional means of liaison between the police and community, which will help free up both 911 and the Toronto Police Service's general phone line.Whyte said police have received prompt feedback following missing person reports and Amber alerts, underscoring the value of the system."The more eyes we have out there, the quicker we can respond," she said.For Henry, the service is a win-win for both police and local residents."What's vital about it is we have a strong community strategy where we can get important information out and make the community aware of what's going on," he said. "We just need to get more people involved."For more information on the service, email tpslinks@torontopolice.on.ca or visit www.torontopolice.on.ca and click on the TPS Links icon.