To Whom It May Concern:
I recently was a visitor to Hamilton for a conference in January. There were students from all across Canada, many of whom come from small and fairly safe communities with the mind set of everyone as being respectful and helpful. We saw these characteristics shine through when we met two of your officers. On Tuesday, January 25th, many of our students gathered for a social event at the Honest Lawyer. A few of us were outside and two ACTION Team members introduced themselves – Constables Shawn Smith and Brent Gibson, and asked us if we were from the area. When we stated that we were from away, they gave us information about city attractions but also how to stay safe such as areas to visit and to stay in groups when going out. They told us about their goal of increasing safety and gave us some statistics of how their presence is decreasing the crime rate.
As nurses, we are very supportive of the ACTION Team’s prevention methods and increasing community safety. It is nice to see that the ACTION Team represents many of our Primary Health Care principles such as working in collaboration and building partnerships with the community and being a visible public service employee. Over the next few days, many students mentioned that it was nice to see the “Yellow Jackets” as it gave them a sense of security in a larger city and are looking forward to their next visit to Hamilton. Your team was seen many times handing out cards and chatting with residents making their presence known which shows they are caring and dedicated peace keepers. As the Atlantic Regional Director for Canadian Nursing Student Association, I would like to say thank you for making my colleagues feel welcome and safe in your city.
Please pass our thanks along to Constables Smith and Gibson.
Thank you