He’s been a cop for 28 years and for Inspector Scott Lawson, becoming detachment commander for the County of Wellington OPP was like “coming home.”
He was officially named to the post in mid-September 2012 and since that time has been putting his mark on the position and how the detachment and its 111 officers provide a safe and secure county for residents.
The county contracts OPP services and the detachment is the largest in Ontario on a one-contract basis with a municipality.This year the detachment’s estimated budget will be $17.8 million.
Lawson started his career in 1986 with the Stratford police service before shifting to the OPP in 1990 and serving a couple of years in Moosonee-Moose Factory in northern Ontario. By 1992 he had taken a position at the Mount Forest detachment, which would eventually lead him to a home in Centre Wellington.“That was my choice because I had provisions (in my contract) to move, but I liked it here and I didn’t want to move,” he said in a recent interview with the Advertiser at his detachment office in Aboyne.
It was the fallout from 911 in the United States that gave him the opportunity to try out a different role within the OPP – re-evaluating government protection.
“Within two or three months the government made a whole lot of changes, bringing in an armed presence. I was in charge of developing a new detachment down here (Toronto) that was requested by the government based on 911,” he said of a Queen’s Park detachment with the goal of protecting “people and buildings.”
Lawson said it was a change having armed officers in downtown Toronto.
“We were new there, it was a change for the 5,000 employees to see us downtown. We did all the government offices,” he said of the buildings, including finance, government offices, emergency management and the Centre for Forensic Sciences that now came under a new security umbrella and regimen.
Lawson was also involved in the restructuring of how accidents were handled by the OPP, such as ensuring an accident scene is secure for an investigation and moving traffic along – an essential ingredient in getting Toronto gridlock flowing.
“I got a chance to implement changes in the organization in how we police traffic,” he said of the opportunity.
The restructuring would eventually see the OPP adapt black and white cruisers, replacing white vehicles, and bringing in aerial traffic surveillance the force once had in the mid-70s but abandoned due to costs.
“I brought it back,” Lawson said of the fixed-wing aircraft deployed by the OPP to time-check highway speeds and relay the information on speeders to cruisers on the ground.
Specialized traffic divisions were developed to go in and handle all aspects of an accident investigation once the local detachment arrives at the scene.
“It’s a group of officers who attend major collision scenes, investigate and clear the highway so as not to compromise the investigation,” he said.
One such unit was deployed to the major 92-car pile-up on Highway 400 on Feb. 27.
Lawson’s previous work also includes teaching officers how to deal with the media. Particularly in this day and age of social media where information can be compromised, Lawson feels it is important to deal openly with media outlets, while at the same time ensuring important information that could jeopardize an investigation or that could impact next of kin of victims is not revealed.
“I’d like to have twitter,” he said of an essential social media tool.
In a recent response investigation into an alleged bomb threat on a bus in Aberfoyle, the inspector acknowledged the media was not informed of the incident quickly enough.
He also pointed out that due to provincial legislation, OPP tweets have to come out in both official languages, making it difficult to establish the network locally.
“Our organization (OPP) gets the fact social media is the next step, but we have to put provisions in place,” he added.
As detachment commander, Lawson has made his own changes in conjunction with the county police services board.
He is well aware of the 8.55 per cent wage increase officers will be receiving this year. It is an increase mandated by the province after officers had a two-year wage freeze – yet one some of residents might find difficult to swallow.
However, Lawson said he is confident his officers are providing outstanding service in relation to the cost.
“My role is to put the best team on the field every day, 24 hours a day, 365 days (a week),” said Lawson.
He admits deciding to disband the mounted force and its horses was difficult, but in the end it freed up officers needed on the front line, something the inspector believes is essential.
Lawson said the detachment borrowing a special cruiser capable of detecting expired licence plates while moving was instrumental in the detachment securing a cruiser itself.
In part, at the centre of Lawson’s philosophy, is the desire to maintain the designation the county received last year as the safest community in Canada by Maclean’s magazine.
The inspector is designating the newest detachment building in Teviotdale as the northern detachment, joining the central detachment in Aboyne and the southern one in Rockwood.
The Mount Forest station is designated as an investigative branch specializing in forensic and accident investigations, but it will still be used for regular OPP work.
“I’m aware every day of the costs … I never lose sight of that and we find better ways to do things,” Lawson said.
