Waterloo Region police win international award for community partnership

The Waterloo Regional Police Service has won a community outreach award for excellence in law enforcement from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The award is for police involvement in the Connectivity Waterloo Region project, a consultation and referral group made up of 30 community partners designed to help at-risk individuals in an effort to keep them out of the legal system. 

"We are extremely proud of the significant effort that has gone in to this program and we know the dedication, both behind the scenes and around the connectivity table, is making a difference in our community," said Police Chief Bryan Larkin in release Wednesday. 

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The Connectivity initiative is a community-based project that gives police some alternative approaches to about 80 per cent of calls that are not criminal in nature, such as calls about missing people and mental health concerns.  

The group meets weekly in Kitchener and Cambridge to discuss cases where involvement from community support services could help an individual who is otherwise at risk. 

"The belief all partners hold in common is that early intervention can help people and impact the broader community," police said in the release. 

The 2015 IACP/Motorola Solutions Webber Seavey Award was given to Waterloo Regional Police Service in partnership with Langs Health and Wellness Centre in Cambridge and Carizon Family and Community Services in Kitchener, the two agencies that host the round tables.